Poisoning
by Munchkincat
Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive. Chapter 6 is now up! My story is now complete!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13 ( T )

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning**

Captain Kathryn Janeway sat in her Ready Room on the starship Voyager, slowly rolling a pip between her thumb and forefinger. She leaned back in her chair as she thought of the officer who would have one more pip on his uniform; a promotion.

This officer had performed above and beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions. He had risked his life and faced dire consequences to save the crew. It was about time he be promoted. She smiled ever so slightly as she imagined the expression on his face when he received the coveted pip. She received just as much enjoyment seeing her officers promoted as they did. But this officer, she had a feeling, would be slightly happier. Just slightly….

* * *

"What is this?" Lieutenant Tom Paris asked warily, peering at the strange substance in his bowl. 

"Tarameeseum hair in Alterian chowder sprinkled with Nantanken sprigs!" Neelix, the Talaxian chef said proudly.

Ensign Harry Kim dipped his spoon into his bowl and looked closely at the black strings floating in the chowder.

"The Tarameesum hair is just a name, right?" he asked, still staring at his bowl, "it's not…"

"_Real_ Taramesseum hair," Neelix finished for him beaming with pride, "I found them on the Kovur planet where we last gathered food. Taramesseum naturally shed their hair annually, and the planet was filled with them. Try it! There's plenty to go around once you like it."

Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim exchanged wary glances.

"I'm going to volunteer my fiend Harry, here," Tom said before Harry could open his mouth to speak, "to have the honor of taking the first bite. I owe him one."

Harry smiled wryly. Tom was finally paying him back for volunteering him to go down on an away mission to a Demon class planet. Demon class described planets most inhospitable for human life. To say the planet was a living nightmare would have been an understatement.

The two Starfleet officers were having lunch in the mess hall with Neelix trying yet another one of his interesting, yet barely digestible foods, on the crew. Harry and Tom had finished a game of one-on-one basketball in Holodeck Two and were starving, or so they thought.

"Well?" Neelix asked expectantly.

Harry dipped his spoon into the soup as slowly as possible.

beep

"All senior officers to the Bridge," Captain Kathryn Janeway's voice could be heard over the comm signal."

"Gotta go," Harry said, dropping his spoon.

"Bu-but… the chowder," Neelix said as the two rose from their seats.

"Sorry, duty calls."

"Saved by the combadge," Harry sighed as soon as the mess hall doors closed behind him.

"Not so fast," Tom replied, at his friend's heels, "I still owe you one. In fact, considering what we went through on that planet, you owe me twenty."

* * *

"Sensors have located a distress signal from a planet twenty light years from here," Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, the Vulcan security officer, reported as Tom and Harry arrived on the Bridge. 

As soon as Harry reached his Ops station, he went to work, his fingers dancing over the console.

"It's an audio-only signal. I'm patching it through."

"Someone help me, please! My name is Yavira Jenners, of the Tarren species. My craft ran into trouble when the starboard plasma drives failed. I crash-landed here on the planet at coordinates five-seven-four mark seven-one-three. Luckily, I've been able to survive for several days off the vegetation here, but I'm stranded. There's no one else here. I'm all alone. To anyone who hears this, please, help me repair my ship or help me get back home."

Harry bowed his head ever so slightly. His heart went out to the stranded alien. He, and the rest of the crew on Voyager, knew _exactly_ how she felt.

"Plot a course for the planet where this call came from," Janeway said immediately, her compassion showing through the forcefulness of her voice.

"Aye, captain," Paris replied, setting a course for the planet.

Once Voyager flew into orbit around the planet, Tuovk monitored the sensors.

"Sensors indicate a Class-M planet," he said, "filled with foliage and vegetation, but no life signs aside from the plants. It appears that the entire planet is completely uninhabited."

"An M-Class planet?" first officer Commander Chakotay asked, "that means it's capable of supporting life, yet there's no one there?"

"It could be that this planet has not yet been discovered by alien species," Janeway replied, "or, that it's neutral territory."

"I just looked into the computer's database," Harry said, turning back from the console behind him, "the data we've gathered from the alien species we've met so far don't indicate that this planet is claimed by anyone, or that it's neutral territory. In fact, none of them mention this planet at all."

"What about the life sign of the alien that crashed on the planet?" Janeway asked.

"There are several dense caves on this planet," Tuvok replied, "it could be that she is in one of them and it is blocking our signal. If we beam down to the planet, we would be able to detect signals we cannot from Voyager."

The captain sat for a moment deep in thought.

"Take a security team down with you to the planet and find her," she instructed, "Mr. Paris and Mr. Kim, I want both of you to see if you can repair her craft."

"Aye captain."

"Understood."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

When the away team beamed down near the coordinates specified in the distress signal, they found themselves on planet thick with green, blue, and red vegetation. A deep green sky blanketed above them while a bluish haze provided light. Because it was an M-class planet, the away team beamed down without bulky environmental suits, much to their relief. 

"It's beautiful!" Ensign Michaels of the security team said. She stared in awe at the scene around her.

"There one life sign one point two kilometers to the East," Tuvok said, waving a tricorder and wasting no time, "let's go." His security team followed, some shaking their heads, others trying to suppress a smile. They were used to the Vulcan's, well, Vulcan-like behavior.

"Oh come on, Tuvok," Paris said, "aren't you going to stop for a minute and say something about this planet? Lush vegetation all around you, a beautiful sky, the light shining down on us?"

"It is…" Tuvok paused looking around him, "a planet hospitable to life."

The Vulcan turned around, his team following.

Paris smiled, shaking his head.

"I swear Harry," he said as he and his friend proceeded forward to the damaged alien shuttle ahead of them, "one of these days, I'm going to stop Tuvok from making such… logical statements."

"That'll be the day."

When Kim and Paris reached the alien craft, they went to work, scanning every inch with their tricorders. The alien craft was in several pieces. The metallic-like structure of the craft resembled more like paper than the strong craft is must have been. Crumpled pieces of titanium alloy were everywhere. The biggest pieces were either dented, charred, or both. Amazingly, the internal controls and seats of the craft were intact, sitting completely exposed to the outside, as if they were on display. Two plasma containers sat among the wreckage. One still contained plasma, though it had a long crack running through the side, and plasma was leaking into the ground. The other was completely destroyed. The glass around it was gone, the plasma having long since depleted. It was just an empty shell.

"This is weird," Harry said studying the readouts on his tricorder.

"What?" Tom asked, turning away from the front controls of the craft to face Harry.

"Yavira said her craft crashed here when the plasma drives failed," Harry pointed to the empty plasma container, "On Voyager, if plasma conduits fail, backup systems reinforce the structural integrity of the container to prevent it from exploding like this."

Tom shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe the backup systems failed. Or maybe her shuttle doesn't have backup systems."

"But even then, why would the container be right here? If it did explode, wouldn't pieces of it be in space?"

Before Tom could answer, Harry moved on.

"And what about these burn marks?" he swept his tricorder over a large burnt panel and tapped a series of buttons, "What caused these?"

Suddenly, a soft thump could be heard from their left. Harry and Tom both looked up. Without any creatures or aliens, the planet had been completely still aside from an occasional light breeze.

"There's a life sign twenty meters from here. It's weak." Tom said, looking at his tricorder.

"_Another_ life sign?"

Tom pressed his combadge.

"Paris to Tuvok."

"Tuovk, here."

"Harry and I have found another life sign about twenty meters from us. Have you found the source of the life sign you detected?"

"Not yet. The plant-life is very dense in the area we are traveling in and it is slowing our progress. Have you discovered anything from the alien's shuttle?"

"I'm not sure yet," Harry replied, "but I think there's something more going on around here. I'll need more time to investigate."

"Continue investigating the wreckage. I am going to send Ensign Lee and Ensign Michaels to investigate the other life sign. Tuvok ou-"

"Wait!" Tom said, "The life sign I detected is very weak. She's probably injured or sick. By the time your team gets here, it might be too late."

"Very well," Tuvok said after a moment's hesitation, "proceed with caution. I am still sending Ensigns Lee and Michaels to join you. They should meet up with you in a half-hour."

"I don't know about this," Harry said hesitantly as he and Tom made their way through thick brush towards the life sign, "There's something really wrong. A planet full of vegetation yet no life signs at first? And now we find two?"

"This is a large planet," Tom replied, "maybe the alien was mistaken. One being can't possibly search an entire planet. Even when we scanned the planet, we couldn't penetrate some regions. Maybe she's not so alone."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"It's just one weak life sign," Tom said, "when we find her, maybe we can get some answers."

The tricorder Tom was holding beeped steadily then emitted a rapid series of beeps as Tom scanned the region.

"The life sign is reading from there," Tom said, pointing with his tricorder to the mouth of a large cave surrounded by brush. He took a deep breath before stepping hesitantly forward.

"Do you want to keep watch out here?" Harry asked, knowing his friend was claustrophobic.

"You mean let you have all the fun and me miss all the action?" Tom replied, hoping his voice would stay steady, "Not a chance."

When the two entered the cave, they found themselves in a large rocky structure with three tunnels; one leading to the left, one leading to the right, and one leading straight ahead.

"Well," Tom said, "which tunnel will it be? Tunnel number one? Tunnel number two? Or tunnel number three? And the winner is…."

He studied his tricorder.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"The life sign just stopped."

"You think she died?"

"Maybe, but if we can find her quickly, the Doctor may be able to revive her… We have to find her the old-fashioned way. Let's spread out, but keep an open comm link and let's map our steps on our tricorders so we don't get lost. I'll take tunnel number three, the one on the right." The two took flashlights off their belts and attached them to their wrists. Luckily, the cave had tiny pockets in the ceiling, enough to let at least a bit of light in so it wasn't completely dark, but the light still not light enough for either Harry to Tom to be completely comfortable.

"Guess I'll take tunnel number one." Harry replied.

The two Starfleet officers then proceeded their separate ways.

A few moments after proceeding down the tunnel, Harry felt his breathing quicken and he began to sweat. Though his tricorder registered nothing unusual, he couldn't seem to shake a feeling of dread.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed at the end of the tunnel, or so Harry thought. He whirled his head around, following it with his flashlight as far as he could see it, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared… if it even appeared in the first place. He scanned the area with his tricorder, but no life signs registered.

"Tom," Harry asked, over the comm. link, "You see anything yet?"

"No, why?"

"I thought I saw something or _someone_… but it must've been my imagination."

"Hey, I thought I was the one who was claustrophobic."

"I dunno, I just… I don't know about this. Maybe we should regroup and wait for Lee and Michaels."

"When we've come this far? Come on, Harry, since when are you so hesitant?"

"I dunno. I can't put my finger on why, but I really don't think we should go on."

"I don't read any life signs yet," Tom said, "the tunnel ends just a few meters from where I'm at. I'll go to the end and come back if I don't find anything."

Harry hesitated again. He wanted to tell his friend not to go on, but without a valid reason why, he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Okay. I'll keep going and see where this leads me."

* * *

Tuvok and his security team had finally reached the coordinates of the life sign. A lone alien lay in thick brush. She was small, about four feet with a flat plated forehead, three eyes, a hole for a nose, and small opening for a mouth. Three flat plates on the sides of her face served as ears. Her body had three arms and legs. Her torso had two large, deep purple wounds. A thick liquid covered the wounds and continued to ooze out and drip on the side of her body. She was dead. 

"What happened to her?" one of the security officers asked.

Tuvok flipped open a tricorder and knelt to scan the alien's body. As soon as he did, a strange noise could be heard all around the security team; it sounded as if a thick liquid was being boiled. A bubbling noise could be heard. Tuvok looked up and saw that a tree to the front of him was changing in shape. The thick, sturdy tree contorted into a flowing substance and shrank in size until it formed and solidified into a creature. The creature, though not as tall as the ten-foot tree that it originally had taken form in, was still a dominating presence. It was seven feet tall with a large, oval head. Two massive circular eyes stared down at the Vulan. Its mouth was a small opening on the lower half of its face nearly hidden behind two long, thick, serrated fangs. It had a tall cylindrical body with two thick limbs, seven long claws on each hand, and two large feet with sharp claws on the ends of each of its eight toes.

Tuvok's tricorder suddenly beeped furiously, registering the new life sign.

"Oh, my…." Ensign Travers gasped. Instinctively, all officers raised their phasers at the creature.

Tuovk quickly put up a placating hand to silence and calm his team. He stepped carefully forward.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Tuvok of the starship Voyager," he said, in his usual Vulcan calmness, "we are here-"

Within seconds, three more creatures formed to surround the security team, originating from seemingly natural objects. One had assumed the form of a tree, the other, a plant, and the third, a fallen branch. It seemed these creatures could form into practically any object of any size.

All three screeched, letting out an ear-splitting noise. The Starfleet officers covered their ears, some dropping their weapons. One of the large creatures stepped forward toward a reeling human and scratched her fiercely on her side. She collapsed to the ground, screaming in pain.

Tuvok fired at the attacking alien with his phaser, but the massive alien simply glanced at firing point on its body, and continued to step forward, completely undaunted. The three slowly stepped towards the security team, enclosing them in a tiny circle. The Vulcan slapped his combadge.

"Tuvok to Voyager, emergency beam-out!"

* * *

As soon as Tuvok materialized in one of Voyager's transporter rooms, he looked around him. His entire security team, including Ensigns Micahels and Lee, who had been sent to help Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim, were on board, but Paris and Kim were not.

"Thank you Commander," Ensign Micahels breathed, "we were surrounded by those creatures. If you hadn't beamed us-"

Tuvok immediately spoke to the transporter officer, "Where are Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim?"

"I-I dunno," he said, looking at his console, "I couldn't lock onto their combadges. Something is blocking their signals."

Suddenly, the ship rocked, forcing the team to try and find their footing.

* * *

"What's going on?" Captain Janeway asked as Voyager was hit with another violent blast. 

The Bridge was enveloped in darkness, a sign that the captain had called for a red alert.

"Phaser bursts are hitting the ship," Ensign Anders stationed at navigation said, tapping at her console, "they're coming from the planet."

"_The planet_?" Janeway asked to no one in particular.

"Transporter room," she called as another phaser burst hit the ship with full force, "do you have the away team?"

"I couldn't beam Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim back up," the transporter officer replied, "Commander Tuvok is on the way to the Bridge and Ensign Walters is being treated in Sickbay.

"The hull is beginning to weaken," Chaoktay shouted from the security station at the back of the Bridge, "another hit or two and we'll lose structural integrity!"

Janeway hesitated just a bit as she weighed the costs of what to do. They could raise shields, but with shields up, the Voyager crew would not be able to beam their missing crewmen back.

"Shields up! Ensign Anders, put some distance between us and the planet. But stay within communications range."

Voyager rocked again, though not as violently.

"Open a communications channel, all bands."

An officer complied and the computer beeped in response.

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. We don't mean you any harm. We came here on a rescue mission. We received a distress signal from this planet. Please, cease your fire."

"No response."

Voyager rocked again as another series of phasers blasted the shields.

"Arm phasers. Target whatever the hell is hitting us, but just enough to disable their weapons." Janeway shouted over the din of the blasts, "… Fire!"

Chaoktay tapped a series of buttons and Voyager returned fire.

"I don't know what's going on," Chaoktay said, studying the readouts on his console, "but our weapons didn't seem to have any effect. Who or _whatever_ is down there seem to have a strong shield around their weapons array. No damage to their weapons."

Seconds later, another barrage hit the ship. This time, a continuous phaser blasted at the ship, relentlessly pounding it.

"Shields down to 80 percent," Chakotay shouted, "… seventy…"

"Captain," Ensign Anders called out, "if we don't get out of weapons range now, we won't last."

* * *

In the distance, Harry heard a tiny screech. 

"What was that?" he thought to himself.

He tapped his combadge, "Tom, did you hear that?"

silence

"Tom?"

no response

Harry started to walk, then jog, out of the tunnel. By the time he reached the bay of the cave where he and Tom had gone their separate ways, he was at a run. Something was wrong. Something was _very_ wrong.

Quickly, he ran into the tunnel Tom had chosen. He only had to go a few feet before he stopped dead in his tracks. A large creature leaned over Lieutenant Paris, who was lying, unconscious on the ground. He had a gash on his forehead and a blood stained rock sat near his head.

Harry stared wide-eyed, noticing the claws and fangs of the monstrous creature. The creature leaned over Tom, its fangs starting to cover with a purple substance.

"Hey!"

The creature looked up.

Harry held one quivering hand up while the other he held over the phaser holstered at his belt.

"We don't mean you any harm. We came down here, because we heard a distress signal. We didn't know anybody else was here. Please, don't hurt my friend."

The creature stood up, its full seven-foot length towering over the ensign. It stared at the human for a few seconds before returning to the human lying unconscious. It extended its claws even longer and pulled its hand back, about to strike at the being.

"Leave him alone, or I'll fire."

The creature quickly brought its claw down on the unconsious being.

Harry grabbed his phaser and fired. But the creature wasn't stunned. In fact, it simply looked annoyed as it was hit.

Quickly, Harry ratcheted the phaser up to a higher setting, careful to avoid any deadly levels of force.

He fired again.

This time, the creature, hit in the head, blinked, and shook its head, letting out a tiny screech. It turned its attention away from the human lying on the floor and towards the one holding the weapon.

Behind him, Harry suddenly heard what sounded like bubbling water. He glanced back and forth, not wanting to take his eyes off the creature, but wondering what the sound was. A boulder that sat behind Harry began to liquefy. In seconds, it formed itself into another alien, looking like the alien standing in front of Harry, but with a different pigment. It stood behind Harry, blocking his way out.

Without warning, the creature sank its large, serrated fangs into the human's back, injecting thick, purple liquid.

"AAUUUGGHHH!!!!"

Harry yelled in agony. He could actually feel the liquid, burning and stinging the inside of his body. The pain was so great, he fell to his knees. All the while, however, he remembered his friend and the phaser in his hand. Gripping his phaser from both fear of dropping it and from the pain, he struggled to set the phaser even higher, until it was just short of set to kill.

The creature next to Lieutenant Paris had already begun to lower its head, its fangs again starting to drip with the purple substance.

Harry had to take his left hand to steady his right, which was holding the phaser.

He pressed a button and fired. This time, the creature fell back, stunned. The towering creature fell to the ground, which shook from its massive weight.

The creature behind Harry screeched, assaulting Harry's ears. Harry couldn't help but cover his ears, though he still held his phaser. Despite the noise, he turned and twisted around so he was on his back. The creature eyed his feet and quickly lowered its head and thus, its fangs.

Harry tried to pull his feet out of the way, _but he couldn't move his legs_. This both surprised and terrified the human. Quickly, before the creature could attack him again, Harry fired, stunning his attacker.

As soon as the creature dropped to the ground, Harry laid back, breathing heavily. The lower half of his body augmented in stabbing, shooting pain. He took several moments to gather himself before turning back around. Tom was still unconscious.

He tapped his combadge.

"Kim to Voyager."

Then he remembered that the density of the cave prevented comm. signals from passing through. Despite that, he still held hope that they would somehow hear him.

But they didn't.

"Come on, Tom," Harry begged his friend, "wake up."

Harry used his hands to walk his body towards Tom. Every so often, he tried to move his legs, but they would not move. When he finally reached Tom, he assessed his friend's injuries.

The lieutenant didn't look terribly hurt. He had a gash to his head, but that could be treated.

"Wakie, wakie, Tom," Harry said, managing a smile despite his pain.

But Tom would not regain consciousness.

Harry grabbed his shoulders from underneath and pulled. He struggled to drag his friend as far as he could, using his elbows to walk Tom's body towards him. Harry had to bear the pain in his hips as he pulled himself and Tom so that he was back on his knees. He then grabbed his pant legs, using his pants to pick up his legs and set them gently down again so they stretched back out and he was back to lying on his stomach. Again, he grabbed Tom's shoulders and dragged his friend's body towards him.

It seemed like an eternity for Harry to reach the opening of the tunnel. Each time, he begged, shouted, even shook his friend, desperately trying to wake him. He didn't know how long the creatures would stay unconscious. The stun he hit the creatures with should have kept a human unconscious for an hour, but he doubted the creatures would stay unconscious for even half that time.

"Come on, Tom!" Harry shouted as the pain in his legs forced his entire body to shake, "Dammit! Wake up!"

He dragged his friend's body and the lower half of his own body closer and closer to the opening of the cave, until finally, he and Tom were out of the cave.

He let out a sigh of relief and just laid on the ground for several minutes, his energy completely drained. He could hear distant blasts, but all he was focused on, was getting back to the ship. He tapped his combadge.

"Kim to Voyager."

silence

"Kim to Voyager."

no response

"This is Ensign Kim to Voyager," he repeated his call, desperation finding its way to his voice, "Lieutenant Paris and I need help. Get us out of here!"

But again there was no response. Kim had no way of knowing this, but Voyager was out of communications range, fighting a battle of its own.

He tapped his combadge again.

"Kim to Tuvok, are you there?"

Suddenly, soft screeches could be heard from the cave. Then, louder, screeches. The creatures were regaining consciousness.

"Oh, no…" Harry gasped. He tried to get back up, at least to his knees, but he no longer had the strength. He laid helplessly as the sounds of the awakening creatures grew louder.

To be continued...

* * *

Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate any and all reviews. It is the reviewers that make fanfiction writing so rewarding:)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning **

"What happened down there?" Janeway asked as Tuvok returned to the Bridge.

Voyager had cleared weapons range, but the captain was not about to go any further.

Quickly, the Vulcan explained what had happened on the planet.

"They seem to be changelings," Tuvok continued, referring to the aliens on the planet, "In addition to changing into seemingly harmless objects, they also have the ability to mask their life signs. They did not register on our tricorders until they assumed their original forms. We were attacked before I could explain our purpose for being on their planet."

"I'm not sure if that would have made any difference," Janeway replied, "When I explained our purpose of being here, they didn't exactly respond with a warm welcome."

"Given that my team and I discovered the alien pilot that sent the distress signal, it is logical to assume that the life sign Ensign Kim and Lieutenant Paris went to investigate belonged to one of the creatures." Tuvok explained.

"We have to get them out of there."

Tuvok resumed his position at the security station on the Bridge.

"I managed to scan their weapons system before we got out of range," Chakotay said, showing the console's display to the Vulcan.

"Is there any way we can disable it?" the captain asked.

Tuvok tapped a series of commands on his console, bringing up a complete schematic of the weapons system.

"Their weapons system has superior shielding power," Tuvok said, studying the display, "they use multi-phasic shielding that is in constant fluctuation. Without a constant frequency to lock onto, it will be difficult to penetrate their shields."

"Can we disrupt their phase variance?" Janeway asked.

Tuvok typed calculations into his console.

"I believe so. If we target a sustained phaser stream at a particular point in their shields, the shields will focus multi-phasing on that area. Any other area on their shields will keep a constant frequency, making it vulnerable to photon torpedoes. Two or three photon torpedoes targeted elsewhere should disable their shields."

"Do it."

"Captain," Tuvok said as Janeway started to turn back to her chair, "I must warn you that we do not know how long it will take for them to recover their weapons system once it is down."

"Noted."

Janeway tapped her combadge, "Janeway to Engineering."

"Yes, captain?" Chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres replied.

"Transfer all available power to shields and weapons."

"Aye, captain."

"Ensign Anders," Janeway instructed, "take us in."

* * *

Harry watched as the two large creatures emerge from the cave. He grabbed his phaser and struggled to aim it at the advancing beings. But the pain in his body was so great, his vision blurred, causing him to miss. The creature on the left quickly advanced on him and scratched his arm, tossing the phaser away like a toy from a disobedient child.

Harry again screamed out, this time, cradling his injured right arm. Blood had already begun to ooze from the deep wounds. Finally, his frail human body could not take the pain. He slipped into unconsciousness, his body going limp.

The ground shook and the creatures looked at one another. One blast after another suddenly assaulted their planet, forcing even the seven-foot tall creatures to try and find their footing.

* * *

"Fire!" Janeway ordered.

Voyager attacked the planet with full force, assaulting the weapons array with sustained phaser fire.

Voyager rocked violently as the planet returned fire.

"Shields are down to eighty five percent," Tuvok announced as Voyager was hit with return fire.

"Evasive maneuvers! But keep targeting the same spot on their shields," Janeway instructed.

Voyager swayed and rocked as it moved to avoid alien shots. However, its phaser fire never left the same spot, relentlessly pounding the alien shields.

"Their shields are starting to concentrate multi-phasing at our firing point," Tuvok said.

"Get ready with the photon torpedoes."

The Vulcan moved his fingers into position over the touch-screen buttons on his console.

"Transporter room."

"Yes, captain?"

"Get ready to beam Mr. Kim and Mr. Paris up at a moment's notice."

"Acknowledged."

"Ensign, take us in closer." Janeway instructed, knowing at they were currently not within transporter range.

"But any closer, and the shields will take heavy damage," Ensign Anders said.

"I'm aware of that, Ensign! Do as I say."

"Aye, sir."

As Voyager flew in closer, Chakotay tapped a series of buttons on the controls at his chair, scanning for combadge signals.

Voyager rocked again and again as the alien weapons system assaulted the ship. A console at the back of the Bridge exploded in a shower of sparks.

"Shields down to sixty percent!" Tuvok shouted, reading the screen in front of him. He did not take his hands away from their position.

"Do you find them?" Janeway asked Chakotay

"Not yet," Chakotay replied.

A feeling of dread started to cloud over the captain. They might have to beam down to the surface, but how? There's not telling how long, or short a time the aliens would be able to regain their weap-

"I've found them!" Chakotay suddenly shouted over the blasts, "they're within transporter range!"

"Fire, Mr. Tuvok!"

Immediately, the Vulcan dropped his fingers onto the buttons his hands had hovered over.

Four thick photon torpedoes rushed in succession towards the alien shields, pounding them with full force. After the third, the shields winked out. The last torpedo blasted the alien weapons system, completely disabling them.

"Lower shields! Transport them up!"

* * *

The huge aliens that surrounded Tom and Harry dug their claws into the ground as their planet rocked and shook. A loud roar erupted over their heads and they looked towards the sound. A strange ship was flying overhead.

For a few moments, they watched with curiosity, then turned the unconscious beings on the ground… just in time to see the two dematerialize and fade away into seemingly nothingness.

"I've got them!" the transporter chief shouted excitedly as the two senior officers materialized on the transporter pad. His excitement was quickly dashed, however as he saw their condition. Both were lying on the platform unmoving and unconscious. He slapped his combadge.

"Livingston to Sickbay."

"Sickbay here," the Doctor responded in his usual chipper voice.

"I'm transporting Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim to you. They need your help."

* * *

Harry Kim felt someone, or was it… something, turn him over to his side? Harry snapped into consciousness, the upper half of his body jolting as if touched by an electric shock. His eyes looked wildly around, remembering in an instant what had happened, and in the next, terrified of what was going on.

The Doctor moved to face the ensign.

"It's okay, Mr. Kim," he said, "you're on Voyager, in Sickbay."

It took several moments for Harry to slow his breathing and take in the familiar room he was in. Then, the pain in his body returned and the ensign's labored breathing returned.

"Tom?" he asked weakly.

"He's going to be just fine, thanks to yours truly," the Doctor smiled gesturing to himself, "Just a mild concussion and a gash that was easily repaired. He should regain consciousness in a few minutes."

The pain in Harry's lower body seemed to rise exponentially in a matter of seconds.

"Oh, God," Harry winced.

The Doctor quickly turned to the console next to the biobed, which began to beep rapidly.

"The poison is spreading up your body," the Doctor said as he assessed Harry's body with a hand scanner from his medical tricorder, "I believe it's feeding off the energy in your internal systems."

Suddenly, Harry found it difficult to breathe. His lungs seemed to constrict, making him gasp for air.

"Doct-…" his voice trailed off as the console at his biobed erupted in a cacophony of alarms.

The Doctor studied the readouts. Harry's vitals were failing. Quickly, he grabbed a hypospray and loaded a dosage of medicine.

"I'm going to induce a coma," the Doctor said, looking straight into Harry's eyes, which Harry was struggling to keep open despite his pain, "that will slow down your biological systems, slowing the progress of the poison."

Harry tried to say something, but all that came out was a raspy moan. The Doctor injected the hypospray into Harry's neck. Immediately, the ensign's vitals stabilized, his breathing calmed, and he closed his eyes, falling into this time, a safe unconscious state.

The Doctor leaned against the side of the biobed, breathing a sigh of relief. A part of him wondered whether he was programmed to do so; to breathe sighs of relief, but almost instantly, he knew the answer. The crew on Voyager was having an affect on him. One that he was never programmed to handle, but he didn't regret that fact.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up. His other patient was waking up.

"Ah! Lieutenant Paris," the Doctor strode over the Tom and scanned him with his tricorder, "you suffered a mild concussion, but with a few hours rest, you should be fine. Mind if I ask what happened?"

"Well," Tom said, his thoughts just coming into focus, "Harry and I were .… Harry! Where is he? Is he okay?"

Before the Doctor could answer the Sickbay doors opened and Captain Janeway strode in.

"Mr. Paris," she nodded with a smile to Tom, "how are you feeling?"

"Better," Tom replied, "now that I'm conscious."

The captain managed a small chuckle.

"He should be fit for duty in a few hours," the Doctor said.

"And Harry?"

The Doctor stepped aside to allow the captain and lieutenant to see the biobed behind him.

"I wish I could say the same for Mr. Kim…"

Tom looked to his right, towards the biobed where the most critical patients were placed. Harry lay on his right side. Deep purple wounds had penetrated his back and his arm was riddled with bloody scratches.

Janeway gasped while Tom let in a shaky breath.

"I can treat the scratches on his arm," the Doctor explained, "like I did with Ensign Walters. But I don't yet know how to treat the rest of him. He's been injected with a poison that I've never seen before. It seems to paralyze the victim before destroying their internal organs. Already, Mr. Kim's organs have been affected. The poison also spreads throughout the body, feeding off the body's internal energy. I have induced a coma in Mr. Kim, to slow the progress of the poison.

"The good news is, once I find a cure for the poison, I believe I can reverse the damage."

"… And the bad news?" Janeway asked, not taking her eyes off Harry.

The Doctor paused, wanting to delay as long as possible what he was going to say next. But they had to know.

"I've managed to slow the progress of the poison, but I can't stop it. If I don't find a cure, at the poison's current rate of progress, Ensign Kim will suffer permanent injury in one week. In two weeks, he will not survive."

The captain let out a small gasp while Tom looked down at the floor, suddenly dizzy; but it had nothing to do with his recent injury.

"What happened?" the captain asked, looking at Tom.

"I'm not sure…," he said slowly, trying to recover from the news the Doctor had delivered and remember what had occurred at the same time, "Harry and I detected a weak life sign. It led us to a cave, but then it died out, so we went separate ways trying to cover more ground. One minute, I'm surveying one of the cave's tunnels, the next, I hear this strange noise, and all of a sudden, this alien forms itself right in front of me. It was disguising itself as a part of the rock wall.

"Before I could react, it chucked a rock at me, and… and that's all I remember. I must've been knocked unconscious then."

"We beamed the both of you up from outside the cave," Janeway said.

"… Then Harry must've pulled me out of there." Tom said, starting to realize the whole picture. He looked off into the distance, the last several hours replaying in his mind.

"Captain," the Doctor said after a brief pause, "I know things sound terrible right now, but there's no time to waste. I need to know as much information as possible about the aliens that injured Mr. Kim. Without knowing who, or _what_ attacked him, it will be difficult to find a cure for the poison."

"Yes Doctor," the captain replied, shaking her head as if to physically clear her mind, "I'll get teams right on it."

"Captain," Tom said, looking at his friend lying on the biobed, "I volunteer to be on an away team back down to the surface."

"No, it's too dangerous… I can't risk any more of my crew down there."

"But you can't get much off just long range scans. Someone needs to be down there to survey the aliens-"

"My decision has been made," the captain replied sternly.

"Aye, sir."

She was about to leave, but turned back around and faced the lieutenant.

"We'll get to the bottom of this."

"Captain, maybe I can help," the Doctor suddenly said, "Mr. Paris is right. We can get more detailed scans from the surface. I can beam down to the surface to scan the aliens. They can't touch me. _Literally_. With Lieutenant Torres's help, I believe I can modify my mobile emitter so that ninety percent of me remains holographic. The remaining ten percent will be solid so I can hold instruments to conduct scans and perform work. Mr. Paris can watch over Mr. Kim while I am gone."

"But there's still a risk of your being attacked."

"I'm hoping to be off the planet by the time the aliens figure out how to do that. Captain, without scanning the aliens and the planet at close range, I don't believe we'll find the answers we need to heal Mr. Kim."

Janeway looked from the Doctor to Tom.

"Alright," she said, after a moment's hesitation, "stay here with Mr. Paris until he fully recovers and is fit for duty. In the meantime, I'll make one more attempt to contact the aliens. With their weapons system down, maybe they're more willing to talk."

The captain began to turn back around, but Tom spoke up again.

"Captain…"

Janeway looked at Tom, but he didn't continue.

"Yes, Mr. Paris?"

"… Nothing," he said softly, "sorry."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Janeway left Sickbay, but not before stealing one more look at the lieutenant.

* * *

The Doctor finished healing the wounds on Harry Kim's arm, carefully scanning the length of his arm to remove scarring. The Doctor concentrated on his work, but another part of his programming was focused on something else. His programming processing a mixture of emotions; excitement from another away mission tempered by apprehension from the purpose of it. What if the information he gathered from the planet wasn't enough? He attached a small medical device to Ensign Kim's neck which would keep his vitals stable for several days if needed. If needed… the Doctor sincerely hoped it wouldn't come to that.

beep beep beep

The Doctor's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a series of beeps. He looked up to see Lieutenant Paris tapping at a medical display.

"Mr. Paris, what're you doing? I told you to rest."

Tom continued to tap at the computer, bringing up a display of Harry's vitals.

"I can't," Tom replied, "like you said, we don't have much time. We need to find a way to fight this poison. Two heads are better than one, right?"

"Not if one of those heads has just suffered a concussion," the Doctor countered. He watched as Lieutenant Paris walked the length of Sickbay to a storage case, or at least tried to. Halfway there, he stopped, and began to sway.

The Doctor rushed to catch Mr. Paris before he hit the floor.

"Mr. Paris," he admonished, "you still need three hours to fully recover. You won't be much help in your current condition."

He half dragged, half carried a reluctant Paris back to a biobed.

"Now sit and lie down," the Doctor commanded.

"Yes master," Tom replied, gritting his teeth and not hiding back the annoyance in his voice. But he complied, lying back in the biobed. As soon as he did, his vision cleared and the ship stopped swimming before his eyes.

The Sickbay hissed open, and B'Elanna Torres stepped in.

"Tom," she immediately turned to the lieutenant, "are you okay?"

"He'll be just fine," the Doctor replied, "so long as he doesn't make me force him into restraints."

"I'm okay," Tom assured her.

A wave of relief crashed down on the engineer as she looked at her boyfriend on the biobed, alive and well. She had heard from rumor that he and Harry were in trouble, but as with all rumors, details were sketchy. She wanted to kiss him passionately on the lips, but she looked nervously at the Doctor. Instead, she settled with a peck on the cheek. Tom brushed her cheek with the back of his hand as she pulled away.

"Oh come on," the Doctor said, watching the exchange between the two, "we all know you two can't keep your paws off each other. Don't hold back just because of me." He smiled with a flourish.

Tom jerked his head up at the Doctor. It took all of B'Elanna's strength not to sock him in the nose. She let out a deep, controlled breath.

"Let's just work on your mobile emitter, shall we?" B'Elanna said, "In addition to the modifications you proposed, I think I can create a small forcefield around it in case anyone tries to tamper with it."

"Modify away," the Doctor strode to a console where he kept his mobile emitter. He turned around to gather the instruments he needed.

B'Elanna began probing the mobile emitter with a tool while she went back to Tom. She glanced at Harry, who was still lying on his side, the deep purple wounds to his back exposed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked Tom.

"I'm fine," Tom said a little too quickly

B'Elanna just looked back at him, her human genes trying to decipher the emotion behind Tom's eyes.

"Really, I am." Tom repeated.

As the Doctor returned to help modify his mobile emitter, Tom adjusted his gaze back up at the ceiling.

Somehow, B'Elanna knew that Tom was anything but okay.

* * *

"Sensors indicate their weapons system is still inoperable," the Vulcan behind the security station reported.

"Hail them," the captain instructed, standing in the middle of the Bridge.

Tuvok activated controls from his station.

"Channel open,"

"Inhabitants of his planet," the captain said, "this is again Captain Kathryn Janeway of the starship Voyager. You have attacked three of our crewmen and threatened five others. I assured you that we were not on your planet for hostile reasons. We were responding to a distress call. If you assess you weapons system, you will find that I just disabled it. I didn't destroy it. Please, perhaps we can talk."

A moment of silence passed.

"No response."

"Very well," Janeway continued, irritation creeping into her voice, "one of my crew is critically injured. We cannot find a cure for whatever you did to him unless we know more about you. I am sending someone down to your planet to investigate you and your world…. Unless of course, you object."

Tuvok tapped at his console.

"Still no response. In fact, scans show that they are moving away from their weapons array. They are no longer making repairs to it."

"Maybe it's a trick," Chakotay said softly.

"Close the channel," Janeway mouthed to Tuvok.

"Communications channel closed," Tuvok announced.

"Or maybe it's an invite," Janeway said, looking at Chakotay, "for some reason, our universal translators have been unable to decipher what they are saying. Maybe this is their way of communicating. Showing us, instead of verbalizing."

"That is one of many possible logical conclusions," Tuvok replied, "however, it could also mean they are attempting to deceive us."

Janeway paced across the Bridge, deep in thought.

"Reopen the channel," she instructed Tuvok after a moment.

The computer beeped in response.

"We are transferring one of our own down to the surface to conduct scans. Do you object? Show us a response."

"They are not moving," Tuvok said, "still no attempt to repair their weapons array."

* * *

The Doctor beamed down to the surface of the planet. As soon as he rematerialized, he pulled out his tricorder, scanning the area. There were no aliens in sight. However, that meant nothing. The Doctor turned around, scanning the pieces of alien craft Tom and Harry had been investigating earlier. He scanned and downloaded everything he could; the craft's computer, sensor logs, the molecular structure of the hull, the broken plasma containers on the ground, nothing was left unchecked.

He looked at the internal controls of the shuttle; the internal controls that sat so prominently on the planet. The internal controls were intact, unlike the pieces of the shuttle that sat broken and burned, strewn among the wreckage. The Doctor scanned every inch of the controls. Might as well make use of the console while it was on display.

He looked underneath and found a small circular blue device. The device looked as if it did not belong there. It had different symbols from the console. The Doctor carefully detached it and placed it in a case he carried. He would inspect it in detail later.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of liquid boiling behind him. He turned around to see one of the creatures form into its true self; claws, fangs, and all. His tricorder first detected weak, then strong life signs as the creature solidified.

When the creature returned to its full, original form, it looked at the Doctor and let out an ear splitting screech, loud enough to vibrate the ground.

"Hello to you too," the Doctor greeted casually, his programming completely unfazed by the noise.

"Now that we're face to face, maybe we can talk."

The alien just peered at the Doctor, wondering why it hadn't cringed like the others.

"Or, maybe not," the Doctor muttered.

He began scanning the alien as the alien looked at him.

"It appears we're both… curious about each other."

The alien took a few more seconds to view the Doctor, then swiped at him with its massive claws. But its claws went right _through the strange being_. The confident creature finally registered shock. Again and again, it swiped at the being, but again and again, its claws struck air. It stood up to its full height and the now familiar purple substance started to seep from its fangs. It gathered and covered its fangs until it dripped onto the ground. The Doctor pulled a container from the case he held in his other hand. Carefully, he placed the container on the ground next to the poison and pressed a button.

The poison around the container dematerialized; then rematerialized in the container.

"Thank you," the Doctor said, looking up at the alien towering over him, "I needed a pure sample."

The alien brought its head down on the human, trying to sink its fangs into him; but instead, it struck its fangs into the ground, having passed right through the being. It took a few moments for the creature to dislodge its fangs from the ground.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you," the Doctor advised.

Bubbling noises could be heard again, this time, several noises from all around the Doctor. In an instant, five aliens formed themselves around the Doctor. The one to his left eyed the tiny device on his left arm, and jabbed at it. It jerked its head back when it was met with forcefield resistance.

The Doctor continued to scan all aliens, one of which screeched again, seeming to energize the rest. Three of the creatures began jabbing at the mobile emitter, almost as if they were fascinated by the forcefield. The Doctor tried to get away, but he found himself surrounded on all sides by the aliens. He'd be able to resist their attacks, but he wouldn't be able to escape them unless he passed completely through them. All one hundred percent of him had to remain holographic; and that meant leaving all the work he had done behind. Suddenly, the ground shook beneath the Doctor.

"Doctor to Voyager," he said, pressing his combadge, "I think it's time for me to leave."

He quickly put the poison sample in the case he carried along with the rest of the data he downloaded.

"Sorry, Doctor," Chakotay replied from the ship, "we're having a bit of trouble here ourselves. They've repaired their weapons system in seconds and now they're firing at us."

Voyager swerved and banked as it dodged one phaser shot after the other. The captain had ordered shields to be raised just after Voyager was blasted with a phaser stream. The hull had already weakened in one shot. There was no indication of movement from the aliens towards the weapons system. The captain could only guess that they had remote detonators.

"Mr. Tuvok," the captain said, still trying to recover from the surprise attack, "target the shots their weapons system fires on us. Not the weapons system, _the bullets_. Let's fight fire with fire."

"Captain, two phaser shots coming within contact with one another would produce a considerable explosion."

"I'm counting on it. The explosion should blind the weapons tracking system, enough to allow us to get the Doctor and get the hell out of here.

"Ensign," Janeway continued, addressing the officer at the helm, "get ready to go to warp eight when we fire. Transporter room, get ready to beam the Doctor up once we pass by him. We'll lower shields when we're overhead and raise them the _instant_ he's on board."

"That's an awfully small window of opportunity," Chakotay said warily.

"Then we'll have to make ourselves small enough to fit through it."

The captain nodded to the Bridge crew.

"Aye, ma'am."

"Yes, captain."

The crowd around the Doctor parted, allowing him to see two more creatures several meters away; both armed with long rifles. Without hesitation, they fired at the Doctor, aiming their weapons at his mobile emitter. Almost instantly, the forcefield around the Doctor's mobile emitter winked out.

Finally, the human started to cower away from the aliens. Two resumed poking at the mobile emitter, causing the Doctor to fade in and out. He dropped the case filled with precious data.

"Voyager, get me out of here, now!"

The Doctor tried to shield himself behind a large panel from the alien pilot's craft. But he knew it was only a matter of time before the aliens overwhelmed him.

* * *

"Fire!"

Voyager fired a series of phaser bursts aimed directly at the incoming fire. The two opposing phaser shots came in contact with each other, exploding in a fiery plume.

"Head towards the Doctor's location, warp 8!"

The ship speed away, the front of the explosion licking at its stern shielding.

"We'll be in position in five… four… three… two… one…"

"Transporter room, beam him up, now!"

* * *

The Doctor huddled over the case as his holographic image fizzled yet again. It seemed the aliens were almost having fun with him. One would toy with his mobile emitter while the other would try and touch him, swiping at his image with its claws. The panel he had been using as crude shielding was easily taken away by one of the aliens.

Just as the alien made yet another attempt at the mobile emitter, the Doctor disappeared, this time, dematerializing with the precious case in hand.

"I've got him."

"Shields up! Get us out of here!"

Voyager rocked as the explosion finally caught up with it, but its fully powered shields greatly dissipated the impact.

Janeway finally sat back in her chair, letting out a sigh of relief as Voyager sped out of the way, clear of any danger.

* * *

Hours later, the senior staff assembled in the briefing room, having pored through the data the Doctor had gathered. The Doctor patched a visual through from Sickbay so he could constantly monitor Harry's vitals for any changes.

"The information we gathered is fascinating," the Doctor said, "I've never seen such creatures, let alone ones with their level of intelligence, and cunning. It's interesting, in a twisted, disgusting sort of way."

Before the Doctor could ramble on without explaining, the captain interrupted, "Let's start from the beginning."

"Yes, sorry. Well, first of all, the distress signal we detected from the alien pilot, the Tarran named Yavira Jenners, … it doesn't exist."

"What?" Chakotay asked.

"I downloaded everything I could from the alien's shuttle. There was no such distress signal sent. In fact, there was no distress signal sent at all. Here is the last log entry Yavira made."

The Doctor pressed a series of buttons and his image was replaced with a visual image of the pilot Tuvok and his team discovered dead on the planet.

"Yavira Jenners's log, Tarranian date 471285. I'm following a distress signal someone has sent from a planet filled with vegetation but only five life signs. According to the signal, a small crew of five members of the Darrakaan species is stranded here-"

Suddenly, the craft the Tarren was piloting jolted and a console exploded behind her.

"What the?"

The pilot checked her console.

"I've been hit, from…. the planet?"

Another series of blasts assaulted the shuttle. Yavira groaned as she was thrown out of her seat and another console failed in a plume of sparks. The visual log then became fuzzy before shutting off.

The Doctor's image came back on the screen.

"Yavira's shuttle wasn't failing. It was _shot do_wn by our aliens friends."

"… so if she didn't send the distress signal," Tom said as the gravity of the news descended on the senior staff, "who did? It sure sounded like her on the audio log."

"It _was_ her. Every log from species that we have encountered so far, have an encoded timestamp. Yavira's logs were no different. The log she really made was encoded with Tarraninan date 471285; the equivalent of two days ago.

"The fake distress signal had _several_ timestamps. Some groups of words came from a week ago, some were just one word made from a log entry two months ago. The creatures down there created a fake distress signal using words from Yavira's previous logs, piecing them together."

"But if the signal was created piecemeal from the pilot's previous logs," Janeway said slowly, "wouldn't we hear the different tones, the inflections from her voice? Her voice wouldn't flow right. It wouldn't sound like one continuous transmission."

"That's what I thought," the Doctor replied, "but then I looked at a device I found lodged underneath her console."

The Doctor held the blue circular device up to the screen for the senior staff to see.

"I scanned this little baby, and found that it's a frequency modulator. I believe the aliens used this to smooth out the different tones and inflections in the pilot's voice. Thus, creating, to the naked eye, a perfectly valid distress signal. Visual images are much harder to modulate. You have to smooth out every inch of the image so the movements of the person doesn't jump around. It was easier for the aliens to create a fake audio signal."

The senior staff leaned forward in their chairs

"But, why?" Chakotay asked, "Why lure us to the planet when they don't even want us there?"

"They most certainly do want us there," the Doctor explained, "…as food. I scanned the aliens and discovered their brains possess far more neurons than humans. They are highly intelligent with a complex language, which explains why our universal translators can't interpret their language.

"The poison they inject into their prey slowly breaks down the internal system and organs until the prey dies. At which point, they… eat their prey. I believe the poison is designed to break down the internal structure of their prey, making them more digestible."

The senior staff exchanged disgusted looks. Tom let out a slow deep breath.

"There's more," the Doctor said. He turned to look at B'Elanna Torres.

"My team and I studied the shuttle's wreckage," Torres explained, "the Doctor explained how the main console of the shuttle was left intact. That wasn't by accident. We believe the shuttle was shot down by the same weapons system that attacked us; only they used a much weaker phaser shots, just enough to bring the shuttle down, but not destroy its main computer.

"Now I know why. The creatures down there needed the main computer to create the false distress signal that brought us here in the first place."

Torres stood up from her chair and walked to the display console.

"Excuse me, Doctor," she pressed the controls next to the screen and the image of the Doctor was replaced with a skeletal image of a shuttle, "this is what the shuttle looks like in one piece. With the computer's help, we were able to extract the shuttle's schematics from the data we gathered. Even though Harry and the Doctor discovered two plasma containers, we believe the shuttle had four plasma containers."

"A shuttle of that size can't possibly be powered by just two plasma containers," Tom, who helped B'Elanna's team, explained, "When Harry scanned the two containers in the wreckage, he thought there was something suspicious about them, and he was right.

"One of the containers was completely depleted of plasma, the other was leaking. We think the aliens must've stolen the plasma."

"But why?" Chakotay asked.

B'Elanna tapped the controls and the image switched to a detailed schematic of the alien weapon system. It then focused on a plasma conduit on the left side, enlarging it to make it easier to see.

"This is one of the plasma conduits from the craft's shuttle."

She tapped another button and the image swerved around to the right and focused on another plasma conduit.

"This is the other, with twice as much plasma in it. The same plasma that should have been in the empty container Harry found. The creatures down there use _stolen technology_ to bring down other ships. How much of their weapons system is stolen and how much is actually theirs, it's hard to tell. But there's no doubt about it. Their weapons array has no consistent look to it, no consistent technology. Some parts are made of plasma, others of electrical conduits, and still other parts are made of technology we have yet to figure out. But somehow, they've been able to make the different technologies work together to make one hell of a weapon."

The Doctor's image returned to the screen.

"These creatures also have the ability to control whether they give off life signs, even the strength of them," he said, "I could only gather one fact from the scans Mr. Tuvok took of the alien pilot before he and his team were attacked. The alien pilot had been dead for over twenty-four hours before the away team found her.

"Which could only mean one thing. The weak life sign Mr. Tuvok and his security team detected _wasn't from the alien pilot_. It was from the creatures. Their life signs didn't register until they showed themselves to me. No point in hiding life signs once I'm staring them in the face."

Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, who had been sitting so silently finally spoke, "We had an original away team of eight. It is logical to assume that the creatures sent two different life signs to separate us, making us easier prey."

The senior staff leaned back in their chairs, absorbing the impact of the information. Tom looked off into the distance, deep in thought.

"If they can understand our language, why don't they talk to us?" Chakotay asked.

"I can only assume," the Doctor replied, "that they refuse to speak to, excuse the term, lower life forms. Why communicate with your prey when you're about to devour them?"

"No wonder they fired on us," Chakotay surmised, "once they detected our ship, they must've seen us as a large food source."

"Exactly," the Doctor said, "they didn't try to attack me until they realized what I was doing. They probably thought I didn't pose a threat until I took their voice modulator. It was then when they realized that I might find out who they are, and what they are doing."

"An alien species that preys upon humanity," Janeway said, breathlessly.

To be continued...

* * *

Thank you so very much to all of you whom have reviewed! It's the reviewers that make writing so rewarding.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning **

_Captain's Log Stardate 52180.3, it has been five days since our encounter with the creatures we have dubbed the Apex, short for apex predator, a biological term for a predator at the top of the food chain. With no apparent enemies and the creatures' intelligence and cunning, the name seems appropriate. The Doctor and Lieutenant Paris have been working around the clock to find a cure for the poison that has been invading Ensign Kim's body, but so far, there have not been any advances. In the meantime, I am left to decide what to do with our newly discovered alien species. _

The captain sat in her Ready Room chair, looking at the padd in her hands. The device contained the coordinates for a warning beacon. The numbers were perfect, thanks to Mr. Tuvok's calculations. The beacon would be high enough to be out of reach of the Apex's weapons but low enough for a ship to detect the lifeforms if they used long-range sensors; enough to determine that the warning was not a lie.

The door to the captain's Ready Room chirped.

"Come in," Janeway said, still holding the padd in her hand.

First Officer Chakotay stepped in.

"Commander."

"Captain," Chakotay gestured to the padd, "Coordinates for the beacon?"

The captain nodded.

Chakotay looked behind him to make sure the door was closed. He stood silent for a moment; then paced in front of the captain's desk.

"Something I can do for you, Commander?" Janeway asked.

Chakotay faced Janeway and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm here to request that you not launch the beacon."

Janeway leaned back in her chair. She wasn't surprised by the request, but it still managed to catch her off guard. She gestured to the chair in front of her desk and Chakotay sat down.

"May I ask why?"

"Permission to speak freely?"

The captain nodded.

"What you are doing is wrong. By sending a beacon warning others to avoid this planet, you are condemning an entire species to starvation."

"What choice do I have?" Janeway asked, "We've tried talking to the Apex for days and they still refuse to respond."

"And for that they deserve to die? To starve to death?"

"What about their victims?" Janeway countered, "Did _they_ deserve to die? Does Harry deserve to suffer being poisoned, possibly killed?"

"You know that's not what I meant," Chakotay said immediately, "… All I'm saying, is that by warning others and protecting them, we could be wiping out an entire species."

"So what do you propose we do?" Janeway replied, "Just continue on to the Alpha Quadrant as if nothing had ever happened? How many others will die when all they wanted to do was to help? _We're talking about species that preys upon humanity_. A species that feeds off innocent beings."

"But that's in their nature," Chakotay said, "Maybe this is the only way they can eat. On Earth, many animals, lions, crocodiles, they pick off the weakest prey in a herd because they are easy to catch; many of their prey are the injured, the young. Can you say it's wrong for them to do that? That they're preying upon innocent beings?

"On a spirit walk with my father, I once saw a young antelope being attacked by a crocodile. Its mother came back to rescue it, but both of them ended up being killed and eaten. Was the crocodile preying upon humanity?"

Janeway paused. Her first officer had a point.

Chakotay continued, "Captain, don't forget that it wasn't too long ago when our ancestors killed and ate other living beings. It wasn't until the food replicator was invented, when we stopped preying upon other species; lower life forms."

The captain rose from her chair and slowly walked to the tall windows in her Ready Room. She stood for a moment deep in thought.

"What if we offered this technology to the Apex?"

"Food replicators? You mean program human parts into them to eat?" Chakotay cringed, disgusted at the thought.

"It would be better than preying upon living beings. If we can change, why can't they?"

"…What if they don't want to change?"

* * *

When B'Elanna Torres entered the mess hall, she noticed the lieutenant sitting by himself at a table far away from the rest of the officers. She approached the table and looked at the bowl, filled to the brim with Tarameeseum hair chowder.

"You haven't touched your soup," she commented.

"Huh?" Tom turned around and saw his girlfriend, "Oh, well, I owe it to Harry for him to try it first. And there's no way he's going to back out on me."

"How is Harry?" B'Elanna asked, her voice filled with concern.

"The same," Tom sighed, "the Doctor and I have tried everything. Borg nanoprobes, extracting the poison, white blood cell infusion, antivenom, nothing's working."

B'Elanna sat down across from Tom, noticing his red, baggy eyes and rumpled hair. She had looked for him in Sickbay, but the Doctor directed her to the mess hall. He had ordered the lieutenant there when he discovered Tom hadn't eaten or slept for the past two days.

"And how are you?" B'Elanna asked carefully.

Tom smiled ruefully, "What is with you two? First the Doctor... now you. In case it's not apparent enough, Harry's the one who's injured, not me. I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"Of course," Tom replied, hoping B'Elanna wouldn't notice the waver in his voice.

"Okay…" B'Elanna said starting to lose her patience, "I'm tired of beating around the bush. Is there something you want to tell me, Tom? Like what really happened on the planet?"

"What?" Tom said incredulously, "Are you suggesting I lied?!"

"No, but I get the feeling that you're hiding something."

"'You get the feeling,'" Tom repeated as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth, "Are you trying to psychoanalyze me now? You trying to become counselor or something?"

Tom laughed, but the lighthearted noise was hollow.

"That's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one. A Klingon counselor! Do me a favor, B'Elanna, if you're trying to become a counselor, don't quit your day job. You're probably the least qualified of all 150 people on board."

B'Elanna's hands instinctively clenched into fists and she grit her teeth.

"Alright…" she said slowly, more to control her anger than anything else, "I don't need this. You don't want my help, that's fine with me." She jumped out of her chair and started to walk away, but then turned back around and looked Tom squarely in the eyes.

"When I first met you, I thought you were a pompous, arrogant jerk. And now I realize…. _I was absolutely right_. I don't know how Harry has stayed your friend for this long. It's amazing you have any friends at all, because you certainly didn't do anything to deserve them!"

She stormed out of the mess hall, leaving a stunned crowd in her wake. Tom looked around, forcing a smile to show the others he was unfazed by her comments. But in seconds, his smile turned downward, and he turned his chair around, seeming to look at the starry space, but he gazed beyond them, lost in thought.

* * *

"We have a proposal to make," Janeway said over the comm. link, "in twenty minutes, we will fly to within transporter range of your planet and beam down a device we believe can be the key to a compromise. There is an automated message on the device that explains how to use it. Please, at least consider our offer."

Janeway nodded to Tuvok, who pressed a button on his console.

"Recording stopped."

"Send the beacon."

With another series of commands, Tuvok instructed the computer to launch a beacon containing Janeway's message, down to the surface of the planet. The captain knew that what she was about to propose, was a breach of the Prime Directive. Starfleet technology was not to be shared with other beings, especially hostile ones. However, she had little other choice. If sharing Starfleet technology meant preserving the survival of one species and protecting the lives of countless others, then so be it. If a species that was just trying to survive could be considered hostile, then practically every species they encountered, even the human race, could be considered hostile.

Twenty minutes after the Apex received the message, there was no response from them; however, that was far from uncommon. Voyager veered sharply downward towards the planet to come into transporter range.

"They are powering their weapons," Tuvok warned, looking at the display on his console.

"Well, now we know what their answer is," Chakotay said.

"Full impulse!" the captain ordered.

Voyager sped downwards as the hum of a weapons system being brought to life resounded all around it.

"We're within transporter range!" Tuvok shouted.

"Energizing!" the officer in the transporter room took the cue from the security chief.

A replicator dematerialized off Voyager and rematerialized on the planet, just as a phaser stream landed directly on Voyager's hull. The ship slammed to the right, knocking everyone off their feet.

"Shields up!"

Tuvok, scrambled back to his console and raised Voyager's defenses. The ensign at navigation pulled the ship sharply upward. Voyager moved with the slightest commands, but she couldn't help gritting her teeth as the floor pushed up from under her.

"Get us out of here!"

Voyager's warp engine glowed sapphire a split second before it shot back up to space, taking it out of weapon's range.

The captain breathed a sigh of relief as a report of minor damage and minimal injuries was reported. Hull integrity was brought down to forty-percent in one shot, but that could be restored.

"I don't know about you," Chakotay commented, "but I'm getting tired of playing duck and dodge."

* * *

A crowd of Apex gathered around the strange device as an automated message featuring Captain Kathryn's Janeway's face and instructions played on a side panel. 

"You can produce almost anything edible on this device," Janeway's message finished, "we have found that this replicator has eliminated our species' need to kill other living beings. It provides all nutritional requirements our species needs, and it can do the same for you."

One of the Apex stormed away, disgusted and insulted by the technology built to change its entire species' lifestyle. Another peered at it, then brought its massive claws back. It would take pleasure in destroying the "replicator" from the lower species up above.

However, as it swept its claws forward, its young, an Apex in light blue color, strode before it, stepping between his raised claws and the replicator.

A heated series of screeches ensued between the two, each pointing intermittently upward, in the direction of the ship the aliens called Voyager. One spoke with loud, high-pitched angry screeches. The other referred to the ship in softer tones. Finally, the light blue Apex turned around and pressed the series of buttons the automated message instructed it to do. Several minutes and trial programming later, a human leg was replicated.

The older Apex tried to stop its young, but he sank his fangs into the artificial food before he could stop him. Horrified, the older Apex stood stunned, half expecting his young to drop dead before his eyes. But his son did not. In fact, his son responded with a series of delighted clicks, and looked at the rest of the crowd, encouraging them to do as he did. He even offered them to share a taste of the replicated human leg, but none stepped forward.

* * *

Tom Paris slipped out of his uniform and stepped into the shower.

"Computer, activate water shower," he said flatly.

He closed his eyes as the hot water rained down on his head and back. He rarely took water showers, usually preferring the dirt on his body to be removed by the sonic shower. However, this time, the water seemed appropriate, even needed.

"Computer, increase the force of the water and increase temperature by three degrees."

The soothing water became hot and the drops of water became tiny needles, prickling his body. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, the last several days replaying over and over in his mind.

"I'm not sure about this…" Harry Kim's voice echoed in his mind.

"There's something really wrong…" Harry's voice repeated over and over.

Minutes later, Tom sat on his bed in his sleepwear. He buried his face in his hands and let out a slow breath. He laid his head on his pillow and pulled the covers over his body.

"I'm not sure about this…" Harry's voice again echoed in his mind.

Tom tossed and turned for several minutes before his exhaustion took over and he fell into a fitful, disturbed sleep.

* * *

"Any indication the Apex have accepted our offer?" Janeway asked as she returned to the Bridge.

"No," Chakotay replied, shaking his head, "They've masked their life signs again so we don't know anymore whether they're still investigating it. No sign of any response beacon either."

Janeway's recorded message had requested a response message be sent containing their acceptance or decline of the replicator; she doubted they would respond, but that didn't stop her from trying.

"But long range scanners indicate the replicator is still intact," Chakotay continued on a more hopeful note, "that could mean they're at least considering our offer."

"It could also mean that they are ignoring the device," Tuvok pointed out.

* * *

The light blue Apex slept in front of the foreign device, disguising himself as a twig. Its father approached the replicator, looking around. The others had ignored the device, some leaving to find tools to take it apart. There must be some technology inside they could use to strengthen their weapons array.

However, when the older came within a few feet of the replicator, it stared at the twig. It recognized its son no matter what form he assumed.

A gruff screech was all that was needed for the blue Apex to return to its original form. Another heated series of screeches ensued between the two. The older Apex pointed behind him, but the younger one would not move. The older Apex knew the rest would arrive ready to take the device apart, but his son remained where he was, refusing to budge.

* * *

B'Elanna Torres stormed down the corridor, still seething from last night. She headed for Holodeck 2. It was an unscheduled visit, but a needed one. A Klingon battle program should dissipate her anger… at least she hoped so.

She entered the Holodeck without looking at the control panel and before the doors fully opened. She stopped when she heard a hum around her.

"Sorry," she said without looking up, "I didn't know a program was in progress."

She was about to leave, but let her gaze wander. She looked up and saw a familiar scene around her. The program was in black and white. Ancient computers with raised buttons and large dials were all around the room. The hum she heard was from the computer to her left, indicating that it was turned on. She recognized this program. It was an episode from "The Adventures of Captain Proton" a program favorite of her boyfriend's. Only the scenery was running, no characters milled about.

"On second thought," she said without looking for the person who was obviously running the program, "I take that back. I don't apologize. In fact, I…"

Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of something hurtful to say.

"… never mind," she turned around to leave, but a voice from the far end of the room stopped her.

"Wait B'Elanna," Tom said, "please, don't go."

Carefully, B'Elanna turned around and stepped between the computers, finding Tom Paris sitting on a set of small stairs that led to a platform. His hair was a mess, his eyes still baggy, and he looked even more exhausted than last night. It seemed sleep did no good to relieve whatever her boyfriend was battling.

Tom looked into B'Elanna's eyes before he spoke.

"About last night… I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that. You're absolutely right… I don't deserve you, or Harry, or anything either one of you have done for me."

To B'Elanna's surprise, her anger quickly dissolved. She wondered if this was her human side taking over.

"Yeah, well…" she said fiddling with her hands uneasily, "I think we both said things last night we really didn't mean."

She made sure to return her boyfriend's gaze.

"Care to explain why you reacted so angrily?"

"… Not particularly," Tom said after a long moment's hesitation. However, his tone was far different from its defensive nature last night. His voice was defeated, downcast.

B'Elanna stared at Tom for several moments and an uneasily silence settled between the two.

"I… uh," Tom said, struggling to fill the silence, "ran this program hoping to clear my mind, but then I realized the person I usually share it with isn't here."

B'Elanna nodded slightly. She knew who he most enjoyed playing Captain Proton with.

"He'll be okay," she said, hoping her voice would sound more reassuring than she actually felt.

"We don't know that," Tom countered, "The Doctor and I have less than two days to figure out how to heal Harry before he suffers permanent injury, and we've come up with nothing so far."

Another silence blanketed between the two before B'Elanna spoke.

"If I think of anything, I'll let you know," she said. She had no medical knowledge, but it seemed the appropriate thing to say.

"Thanks."

The chief engineer sighed, and turned back around to the entrance.

"'I don't know about this,'" Tom said as she started to walk away.

B'Elanna turned to face Tom. He sat staring at the floor, lost in thought.

"You don't know about what?" she asked.

"'I don't know about this,'" Tom repeated before looking back up at B'Elanna, "that's one of the last things Harry said to me before he was injured."

B'Elanna made her way back to Tom and sat beside him.

"Six years ago, before I joined of the Maqui," Tom continued, "I was the Starfleet pilot of a shuttle. My first mission as a Starfleet officer was to shuttle supplies from one Deep Space station to another; something I saw extremely boring and a waste of my piloting skills. After all, what would women think if they saw an 'admiral's son shuttling supplies'?"

"So, I asked my three officers if they would like to have some fun. I was going to shuttle twice as many supplies in half the time. I was determined to show everyone I was more than a mere supply chief."

Tom took a deep breath, gathering strength to go on.

"I loaded our shuttle with twice as much supplies and punched the shuttle to full impulse, as fast as the engines would take us. I didn't care about Starfleet protocol or the fact that I was pushing us to unsafe speeds. One of my crew, Junior Ensign Daniel Hayes, had doubts. Just before we jumped into impulse, that's exactly what Ensign Hays said, 'I don't know about this.'

"But I ordered him to continue, and he complied, because I outranked him. Everything was fine for about five minutes; then the computer detected a subspace distortion straight ahead. But we were going too fast to avoid it. We hit the distortion head on…. Our shuttle was thrown two hundred kilometers off course. There was a breach in the warp coils and I had to jettison the core.

"A Starfleet rescue team beamed us out, but it was too late. Hayes suffered third degree burns over ninety-percent of his body from the warp core breach, Junior Ensign Rictor had blunt-force trauma to her head, and Junior Ensign Hernandez sustained irreparable injuries to her entire spine. Everyone died."

B'Elanna drew in a shaky breath. Tom had never talked about this before. A part of her wanted to ask why, but she simply reached out her hand and rested it on Tom's hands. Even with the light touch, she could feel how tense he was.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, not knowing what else to day.

Tom lowered his head, staring back at the floor.

"After that, I joined the Maqui, partly because I knew I had no hope of a Starfleet career; mostly, it was to distract me. I didn't want to think about the three lives my little stunt caused. But I was caught before my first mission carried out. That's when Captain Janeway approached me with the offer of a second chance.

"I jumped at it. I was determined to erase the past; to show everyone that I wasn't the rebellious Starfleet-officer-turned-traitor everyone made me out to be. But everywhere I went, my past seemed to preclude me. Fellow Starfleet officers wouldn't talk to me, senior officers wouldn't even look my way…

"Harry was the first person who looked beyond that. He offered me something I hadn't been offered in a very long time… friendship.

"And now, Harry may die because of me. I'll be responsible for his death, just like the three junior ensigns on that shuttle I piloted. I guess history is doomed to repeat itself."

B'Elanna turned her head to look at Tom's downcast eyes. He took slow, shuddering breaths, a sign that he was holding back tears.

"Tom, this wasn't your fault."

"Oh yeah," Tom said with a hint of frustration in his voice, "how so? Six years ago, I cost three lives. Now, my best friend might die because of me."

"But with the shuttle, you _knew_ you were putting yourself in a dangerous situation. When Harry and you beamed down the planet, no one knew it was risky. No one knew the planet was inhabited; let alone, by hostile aliens that feed off us."

"Harry knew," Tom replied softly, "he didn't know the planet was inhabited by these aliens, but he knew something was wrong.

"When Harry inspected the plasma containers of the shuttle that was shot down, he immediately knew there was something up. He commented about the empty plasma container, saying it was 'weird.' Then, he was suspicious about the burn marks on the shuttle's hull.

"When we detected the second life sign from the cave, he wanted to stay at the crash site to investigate, but I insisted we follow the life sign. He's an ensign; I'm a lieutenant. I ranked higher than him, so my orders ruled…."

Tom's voice trailed off. It took several moments before he could continue.

" I was _so focused _on finding the pilot that sent the distress call that nothing was going to stop me from rescuing her. I saw that away mission as another opportunity to vindicate myself from my past. Nothing was going to stop me from being the hero on that mission… not even my best friend. I took another calculated risk, and Harry paid the price."

B'Elanna squeezed Tom's hands and Tom let out a shuddering breath.

"I-I don't know what I'll do if anything ever happens to him."

Before B'Elanna could speak, Tom's combadge chirped.

"Doctor to Paris."

Tom slapped his combadge, his fatigue disappearing in an instant.

"Yes, Doctor?'

"Come to Sickbay, please. I have found something you should see."

* * *

A crowd of Apex had yet again gathered around the device. This time, however, the contraption was protected by a young blue Apex. The blue Apex spoke to the crowd, demonstrating the device.

Another young Apex stepped forward, but its parent pulled it back. All simply stared at the young Apex, then at its father, the one that should have been controlling him. His father simply let out a tiny, almost indecipherable screech; an Apex show of embarrassment.

Finally, another Apex, this time, an older Apex with green pigment stepped forward. She programmed the replicator to dispense a human chest, then slowly dipped her fangs into the artificial flesh. Then, pleased by the taste, the Apex sank its fangs further, the purple poison dripping on the food.

The others simply looked at her in disgust.

* * *

Tom half jogged, half ran into Sickbay. He stopped when he entered the room. By this time, Harry still on the Sickbay biobed, covered with a sterile blanket. His damaged uniform had been taken off. His body was encased in the computerized dome that was used to assess a patient's condition in detail. He still lay on his right side, but underneath the computerized dome, a soft medical support cushions kept him on his side while preventing bedsores.

As many times as Tom been in Sickbay the last several days, the sight of his friend in such vulnerable condition still sent shock waves down his spine.

"Doctor," Tom immediately faced the doctor at a medical display near the biobed.

"Mr. Paris," the Doctor greeted, "you're well rested, I hope?'

"Yeah, yeah, sure, what did you call me about?" Tom asked as he strode to stand next to the Doctor.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows; so much for his pleasantries subroutine.

"I've discovered why our previous attempts to combat the poison haven't worked," the Doctor pressed some buttons on the display panel and an image of a DNA strand appeared, "this is the DNA of the poison from the sample I used to create the antivenom five days ago."

"The antivenom that didn't work?" Tom asked.

The Doctor nodded, then pressed another button. The DNA strand on the display moved up to the top of the screen and another strand showed up in a horizontal bar in the middle of the screen.

"This is the DNA of the poison sample I took an hour ago."

He pressed a third button and yet another strand showed up at the bottom of the screen.

"The DNA from the poison sample I took a few minutes ago."

Tom looked closely at the screen.

"All three DNA strands are all completely different," he said incredulously, "… but these are all from the poison sample you took from that Apex, right?"

The Doctor nodded.

"I believe that the poison from these Apex creatures, have a modulating DNA sequence. This is probably a biological feature of changelings like them. Since I've never encountered such changelings, I never thought this would be possible. But apparently it is.

"I did some research, and calculate that the poison changes its DNA sequence every twenty minutes, ten seconds. Now I know why our previous attempts have resulted in failure. The antivenom I created uses a diluted form of the poison so the blood sample I took from Mr. Kim would create antibodies to fight the poison..."

"No wonder it didn't work," Tom said, starting to put the pieces together, "The antibodies created in Harry's blood sample were taught to seek the DNA coding of the poison sample; the pure sample you took from the Apex. But the poison in Harry's body must've changed DNA hundreds of times by then."

"Exactly."

"The same with the nanoprobes," Tom said, "We programmed the nanoprobes to seek the same DNA sequence from the sample we used for the antivenom."

"When one method didn't work," the Doctor explained, "we moved right on to the next. We tried the nanoprobes right after the antivenom failed. Before the poison sample changed its DNA sequence.

"After that, we moved on to other methods of combating the poison in Mr. Kim's body."

"You didn't want to inject any more poison in Harry than was already in him," Tom said, recalling the past several days, "What made you discover the problem now?"

"I thought that maybe I could find the source of the poison's energy. The poison feeds off Mr. Kim's body. Maybe I could develop a medical serum that feeds off the poison's energy. Give the poison a 'taste of its own medicine,' so to speak.

"That's required another poison sample. When I brought up the DNA sequence to see if I could isolate the code that is the source of the poison's energy, I thought something was different. I was right."

"Well can you?"

"Can I what?"

"Can you give the poison a taste of its own medicine?"

"I don't know. I'll have to do more research to see."

"I'll help you," Tom said immediately.

The Doctor watched as Tom busied himself from one medicine cabinet to another, gathering the required diagnostic tools. He had never seen his student so motivated. However, he wished it were under better circumstances. Usually, Tom used any excuse to get out of Sick Bay duty, referring to his medical duties as 'being a nurse' and doing nothing to hide his annoyance. But now, Tom's best friend was in critical condition. To say that the lieutenant now had a biased interest in his medical studies would be a gross understatement.

The Doctor looked from Tom's best friend lying on the biobed to Tom. He never thought he'd think this, but he wished for the old, combative Tom to be back.

* * *

Tom threw the hypospray down in frustration. 

"Doctor, come on! Think!" Tom shouted, "What else can we do?"

It was now a week since Harry was injured. From this point on, both the Doctor and Tom knew that Harry would suffer irreparable injury. What exactly those injuries were, neither wanted the opportunity to find out.

"I am!" the Doctor shouted back, "I haven't turned myself off for the past seven days, and I've been trying to heal Mr. Kim every day."

"And despite what you've found," Toms said through clenched teeth, "we're still no closer to finding a cure!"

Tom began pacing across Sickbay.

"A serum that would use the poison's own energy against it…"

"Tried it."

"The DNA coding of the poison's energy source."

"Tried that. I found the coding for the energy but that _still_ didn't work. Even with more energy, the medicine just can't keep up with the constant DNA modulation of the poison. The medicine barely made progress before the DNA of the poison in Mr. Kim's body changed and the medicine was rendered useless."

"Shocking the poison so its DNA doesn't change?"

"We tried every method of that. None worked. The only viable option is an electric pulse throughout the poison, but that would require killing the patient first."

"What about…" Tom's voice trailed off.

The Doctor looked at the lieutenant. He was rattling off every method they had tried, almost as if repeating them would somehow spark a workable idea neither had tried before.

It didn't.

"We can't just give up!" Tom shouted.

"I have no intention of doing that," the Doctor said slowly and deliberately, "but shouting at me isn't going to get us anywhere."

Tom's combadge chirped.

"WHAT?" he shouted before thinking.

"Mr. Paris?" the captain's voice came through the comm. link.

"Captain," Tom let out a slow breath, his tone lowering considerably, "I'm sorry. I-I just… Is there something I can do for you?"

"I just wanted a status of Mr. Kim's prognosis," Janeway responded. She did not mention the lieutenant's rude response, knowing the stress he must be under. The rest of the officers on the Bridge listened intently. Tom wasn't the only one concerned about the patient.

Tom opened his mouth several times, but nothing came out. It was as if a part of him refused to accept the news.

"I'm afraid there's been no change," the Doctor answered, "the poison has spread to Mr. Kim's abdomen. From now on, he will suffer permanent injury. What specifically that is, we won't be able to tell until he regains consciousness."

Janeway stared off in the distance, not wanting to believe what the Doctor had just said, but the trained captain inside her forced her to face the truth.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Janeway asked breathlessly.

"… Not really," the Doctor said after some thought, "Mr. Paris and I are the ones with the most medical experience and we've exhausted all our ideas…. But we'll keep working at it."

"Very well, Janeway out."

Everyone on the Bridge descended into a solemn silence. The captain remained in her chair, staring at the planet detected on long-range sensors; the same planet that housed the Apex.

Suddenly, the captain stood up, rising out of her chair.

"Captain?" Chakotay asked, noticing the familiar look on her face.

"Mr. Tuvok," the captain said, "prepare to launch a beacon to the planet. I have an idea."

* * *

The Apex watched as another strange device descended on their planet, guided by an independent power system. Their weapons array fired at it, pounding it with one phaser stream after another, but the forecefields around it were strong. The device stayed intact, protected by the shielding.

When it landed, the Apex discovered it was much smaller than the "food replicator" the aliens had sent before. This one was about half the size with just a display screen and two buttons. As soon as it landed, Janeway's now familiar face appeared on the screen.

"We don't know whether or not you have accepted our food replicator," her automated image said, getting right to the point, "but we want you to know something."

The image switched from Janeway's face to one of the beings an adult Apex had attacked. This one's back still had the deep fang wounds covered in purple poison. His breathing was unsteady and it seemed that he struggled with each breath.

A tall being, the one they tried to attack, but couldn't because he was protected by the being now lying on the bed, stood beside the bed. The Apex had no idea how a human looked when it was sad, but most could at least understand this one was not happy.

Janeway's voice could be heard while the image stayed on the human lying on the bed.

"This is the person you attacked. His name is Harry Kim. He's been an exemplary officer on my ship, and has touched the lives of everyone he's met… and he's dying. Because of your species' behavior, his body is slowly breaking down. The poison you injected into his body will soon overwhelm his internal systems and he'll die. This is what you and your people are doing to us and the other species you feed off.

"_You are killing us_. Please, consider our offer. By using the replicator, you won't have to work so hard for your food and other species can live in peace. I'm not sure if you have suffered casualties yet, but no doubt you will someday encounter a vengeful species. Not the human species; we don't believe in killing others, but other species may not feel the same way."

The screen turned back to Janeway's image.

"We are giving you the opportunity to prevent violence from both sides. At least talk with us. Peace can start with you. If you know a way to heal our friend, help him. The violence can stop _right here_, _right now_." Janeway had made sure to enunciate the last few words.

The light blue Apex reached its claws out to the screen and touched a control button. The message played again. It gazed at the victim on the bed and its massive eyes contracted, the human equivalent of a frown.

* * *

Days later, there was still no response from the Apex. But Tom Paris and the Doctor didn't have the luxury to worry about that. The two were gathered in Sickbay. The lieutenant scrolled through a medical database at a console, poring through every viable option. The Doctor accessed every one of his medical memory files, sparing no minor byte of information.

Time had run out.

Suddenly, the diagnostic panel next to biobed Harry Kim had been lying on for the past two weeks, erupted in a cacophony of alarms. Harry's struggled breathing became even more ragged.

Tom ran to the console. Harry's vitals were failing.

The computer chip placed on Harry's neck to steady his vitals, lit up, flashing rapidly. The computer was trying to compensate for the sudden drop in stats, but it could only do so much.

"Doctor!" Tom shouted desperately.

The Doctor raced to the patient on the biobed. He opened the diagnostic hatch encased over Harry's body and carefully placed Harry on his back. In a split second, he brought up a full assessment of the patient on an adjacent panel. The poison had invaded Harry's entire body. By this time, Harry had stopped breathing.

"Neural stimulator."

Tom already had the hypospray loaded and ready.

The Doctor pressed the hypospray against Harry's neck…. But his vitals were still dropping.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Tom asked desperately, "We have to get this poison out of him now!"

"I don't know…"

A steady tone resounded from the diagnostic panel; an indication that the patient's heart had stopped.

The Doctor put a small clear hatch over Harry's head; a cortical stimulator.

"50 millijoules," he instructed.

Tom pressed a button, his hands sweaty and shaking.

Harry's limp head jumped up.

Beeeeeeeeep

"75 millijoules!"

Beeeeeeeeeep

"Again!"

Beeeeeeeeeep

"Come on, Harry," Tom begged softly, "don't do this. Fight it."

"80 millijoules!"

Beeeeeeeeeeep

Minutes later, Tom was still powering the cortical stimulator, charging it again and again.

"… again," the Doctor's tone started to soften. The poison had engulfed Harry's entire body. He was no longer breathing, and his heat had stopped long ago.

Beeeeeeeeeeep

Tom looked up at the Doctor, expecting another command to charge the cortical stimulator, but the Doctor wasn't speaking.

"Doc, come on!"

"Mr. Paris…"

"Don't say it!"

Tom shoved the Doctor out of the way so he was not blocking the display containing Harry's vitals. After checking Harry's vitals, or lack thereof, he charged the neurological stimulator again. But the result was the same.

The Doctor allowed his student to try several more times, all with the same result, before he could take it no longer. He laid a gentle hand on Tom's arm.

What the Doctor said next would be forever ingrained in Tom Paris's mind.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Paris… There's nothing we can do."

The flatlined tone of the medical diagnostic panel rang throughout Sickbay as Tom leaned on the biobed, looking at the body of his lifeless friend.

"N-No…." Tom stuttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

To be continued...

* * *

Once again, thank you so very much to all reviewers! I truly appreciate the feedback. It is the reveiwers that make writing so rewarding!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning**

The light blue Apex worked quickly at its native console, scraping controls with its claws. It looked behind him, where three adult Apex stood guard armed with disabling weapons. A screech from one of the Apex standing guard warned that they were coming.

Over the course of the last few days, the light blue Apex had managed to convince a few of its people to accept the device the Voyager people called a "replicator." However, they were only a few out of hundreds. Even showing Voyager's last transmission, the one that showed the consequences of their poison, did little to convince the rest.

Now, one group rotated shifts, guarding the replicator while he and three adult Apex worked at the only unguarded communications console. They had figured out how to use the console to transmit messages outside their planet; normally, this console was not designed to do that. However, it would only be a matter of time before the rest noticed the missing Apex and narrowed their location.

Screeches could be heard in the distance from the direction. Another, more urgent screech, came from one of the Apex standing guard. The light blue Apex only had enough time to type a short message before it picked up a small container off the ground with its claws. With amazing gentleness, the Apex carefully put the container, filled with a strange liquid into the communications console, closed the door, tapped a series of buttons, and the transmission was sent.

And just in time. Within seconds, ten Apex converged on the communications console, surrounding the three Apex. It wasn't long before the firing began.

* * *

Tom continued to lean on the biobed his arms trembling. A part of him refused to accept the truth that was staring him in the face. It couldn't be. Harry couldn't be…

"This isn't happening," Tom thought as the tears started to well in his eyes. The other part of him thought of the days that were sure to come. His best friend's funeral, seeing Harry's lifeless body one last time as he recollected the times he shared with him… What if they finally did return home? What would he say to Harry's parents? It would be a twisted, sick irony that the crewman most eager to get home wouldn't make it.

"Time of de-" the Doctor started to say solemnly.

"NO!" Tom shouted, looking to the side and glaring at the Doctor.

"Mr. Paris…"

"Don't patronize me! _There has to be some other way!_"

Before the Doctor could respond, his combadge chirped.

"Janeway to Doctor."

"Yes, captain?" the Doctor replied softly, knowing what she was going to ask.

"Have you made any progress? Is Ensign Kim okay?"

"…. I'm afraid not," the Doctor said sadly, he glanced at Tom who continued to stare at Harry's body, "he didn't make it."

The Doctor half expected the lieutenant to shout that his friend wasn't dead, but he remained where he was.

The captain took a sharp breath and swallowed hard. Chakotay looked incredulously at nowhere in particular. He could not believe what the Doctor had just said. The rest of the Bridge crew found it difficult to focus on their stations. Some had already begun to cry.

Tuvok, the emotionless, stoic Vulcan, turned his head down. No one noticed his lips turn slightly downward. No one saw the Vulcan take in a small shaky breath.

* * *

Several minutes passed by as silence descended on the Bridge. The captain stared down at the floor as she began to recollect the times she shared with Ensign Kim. He was the young, eager officer whose ambitions and energy radiated to the people he worked with. Her mind raced to the pip stored neatly inside her Ready Room desk drawer. She took in another shaky breath as she thought of the last moments she spent with him.

It was an ordinary moment; him working on the Bridge, working diligently at his station. _What she wouldn't give to have that ordinary moment back._

As a Starfleet captain, she had been trained to cope with loss, to understand the dangers that came with her job, but it still didn't ease the pain. Nothing could. What could you say to comfort the friends of someone whose life was cut so short?

Suddenly, her solemn stare turned upward and her eyes narrowed.

"Mr. Tuvok," she said sternly, glaring at the viewscreen, which showed the Apex planet, "launch the warning beacon!"

Chakotay was jolted from his thoughts as he heard the captain's words.

"Belay that order!" he shouted.

The captain immediately turned around and stared hard into her first officer's eyes.

"In my Ready Room, _now_."

She held her hand up to Tuvok who stepped back, understanding the gesture. This was between her and Chakotay. There was no need to get anyone else involved.

* * *

"Mr. Paris," the Doctor said gently.

Tom jumped at the voice, suddenly realizing that he was still leaning on the side of the biobed. How long had he been there? He didn't know. He didn't care.

"You can go back to your quarters," the Doctor said softly, "I can take care of things from here."

Tom looked around, staring intermittently at medical instruments and panels as if searching for any last-ditch effort to save his friend. But he knew it was too late. He stared back at Harry's body.

The Doctor put a hand on Tom's arm. Finally, Tom managed to take his hands off the biobed and slowly step away from his friend. He took as long as possible making his way out of Sickbay. The lieutenant took one last look at his friend's body before stepping through the Sickbay doors.

Tom first walked slowly down the hall, hundreds of thoughts running through his mind at once. As he passed a corridor, he saw B'Elanna standing with tear stains down her cheeks. She had tried to wipe them away, but the evidence was still there.

"Tom…," she said, already choking up.

"Don't," Tom stopped and put a hand in front of him, "I know you're going to try and comfort me right now, but nothing you can say or do will change the truth."

"But, Tom…"

"I told you!" Tom shouted, "I don't need anyone to comfort me right now…"

But the tone of the lieutenant's voice implied otherwise.

"Nor do I need a shoulder to cry on…

"J-Just," Tom said backing away from his girlfriend as reality started to weigh down on his emotions, "leave me alone."

Tom resumed returning to his quarters, beginning to walk faster. By the time he was near his quarters, he was at a run.

Once inside and the doors were closed, he leaned against them, taking one heaving breath after another. His mind kept racing back to the last moments he spent with his friend.

"I don't know about this," Harry's voice echoed in his head.

Before the tears could fill his eyes, he swallowed hard and stared at the glass table to his right.

"Why didn't I listen to him?' he thought.

He heaved the desk and upturned it.

"Why?" he said softly.

"Why the hell didn't I listen to him?" he started to shout. He threw a data padd across his quarters. The padd slammed into a far wall, where it hit a framed picture, fracturing the glass, before clattering to the floor.

Tom walked across the room and picked up the picture the data padd had hit. It was of him, B'Elanna, Neelix, and Harry, taken last year. The Doctor had taken a candid shot of the four of them playing ping-pong in the mess hall. He and Neelix had played against Harry and B'Elanna. The crack in the glass was over the left side of the glass, over the images of B'Elanna and Harry.

Tom ran his hand over the uneven glass, not caring that he was risking being cut.

He sighed heavily, not taking his eyes off the picture. It was only then when he realized how much he took those times for granted. Having a job on a starship, one needs to brace themselves for risk and loss, but nothing could prepare you for reality. Nothing could prepare you for seeing your best friend slowly dying, and you not being able to do a thing.

How many times had he and the Doctor treated people in Sickbay? How many lives had they saved? He had lost count. Yet, when his best friend needed treatment, he couldn't do a damn thing.

Suddenly, Lieutenant Tom Paris could take it no longer. The strong, stoic lieutenant began to cry. He leaned against a wall and sank to he floor, trying to fight the tears but they kept coming.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he said between sobs, "…I'm sorry."

* * *

"I know what you're going to say," the captain said to Chakotay as soon as the Ready Room doors fully closed behind them, "but I am _not_ going to allow one more person die from those monsters down there."

"'Those monsters,'" Chakotay replied, "are sentient beings. They have as much a right to live as you or I. They don't deserve to die of starvation."

"And Harry didn't deserve to die from their poison!" Janeway shouted, unable to contain her anger.

She took a deep, controlled breath before continuing.

"We've tried talking to them, we've tried pleading with them. Everything we have said has gone completely ignored."

"We are asking them to completely change their lifestyle," Chakotay said, "It'll take time for them to even think about our proposal let alone respond to it."

"How long a time? A day? A week? A month? _A year_? I'm not going to keep our entire crew here while they make up their minds."

Chakotay watched as the captain made her way to the tall windows overlooking the planet.

Janeway stared down at the planet, thinking about what Harry's last moments must have been like. How it must have felt to have deadly poison injected into your body; to feel the stinging, burning pain throughout every nerve. She thought about the destruction Harry's body endured the past two weeks before it finally succumbed to the poison.

She turned around back to Chakotay, her voice thick with anger.

"Every time we've tried to make peace with these creatures, they respond with violence. They have nothing to say about what they've done to Ensign Kim, and now he's dead. I am not about to let another person be killed by these Apex. I am launching that warning buoy!"

Chakotay looked back at the captain. He was standing at the front of her desk while she stood at the far side of the room next to the windows. He couldn't help but notice the distance between them.

Chakotay swallowed hard. He had never done this before, but as first officer, it was his obligation. His duty. He stared back at Katherine Janeway, his eyes turning slightly downward. Janeway returned his stare, knowing what he was going to do.

"Captain, don't make me do this…" Chakotay said sadly.

The captain shook her head. She was not going to change her mind.

boop

"Tuvok to the captain."

"Yes, Mr. Tuvok," Janeway replied immediately.

"There is an incoming transmission from the Apex planet."

Chakotay and Janeway exchanged glances.

"It is a text-only message," Tuvok explained as Janeway and Chakotay returned to the Bridge.

"Run it through the Universal Translator and show the message on screen," the captain instructed.

The viewscreen switched from an image of a communications buoy to a foreign screen. The black symbols on the side were unfamiliar, but the text within the white screen was translated.

I will try and convince the others to use your device. Use the enclosed liquid on the injured.

This was all the message said.

"There is a container of foreign liquid inside the communications device," Tuvok explained, tapping at his console.

As soon as he said this, the communications buoy began to deviate from its coordinates. Tuvok's hands danced over his console and the viewscreen turned back to the communications console, which began a quick descent back to the surface of the planet.

* * *

The light blue Apex watched in horror as the ten Apex turned on those who guarded the communications device. They pushed him back while they turned on their own. The ten opposing Apex easily outnumbered three, tossing away their disabling weapons. All tried to fight. All failed.

One was knocked unconscious and the other was restrained. The third Apex that guarded the communications console as the young one worked at it, would not go without a fight. This one held its own against several opposing Apex, until finally, they had had enough.

A yellow Apex finally disabled it, sinking its massive fangs into the struggling being. The victim screeched in pain. Because of the fluctuating DNA of their poison, even the Apex themselves were not immune to one another's poison. But this was the first time one had turned against its own. Until now, the antigen was only needed in case of accidental poisoning. With all the forms the Apex assumed, mistaken identity was not an uncommon occurrence. But this time, the yellow Apex did not mistake what it attacked. It knew _exactly_ who it injected its poison into.

The yellow Apex stood back up, wiping the poison dripping from its fangs. Its victim lay on the ground, reeling from the pain. The rest stared in utter shock. The offensive Apex looked around him, trying to explain it only intended to incapacitate him. There was plenty of time to inject the antigen. With its massive claws, it pointed to the communications device and instructed its followers to bring the communications buoy back. There was still time to reverse whatever damage the young one had done.

The yellow Apex shot a glance at the young blue Apex, who cringed. He knew he would not be harmed. Apex do not harm their young, no matter how disobedient, but that still didn't placate the yellow Apex's dominating presence. Nor did it wipe away what it had just did.

Two Apex worked at the communications console, instructing the communications buoy to return.

* * *

"Lock on the buoy," the captain instructed.

A tractor beam shot out from Voyager, latching on to the communications device that held precious material. But this was no ordinary communications device. Built by advanced beings, the device did not just yield. Instead, it responded with strong thrusters and tilted back towards the planet, intent on following through with its instructions from the surface.

"Can we beam the medicine from the buoy?" the captain asked.

"Negative," Tuvok responded, "As long as the buoy's thrusters are active, it is too unstable to safely beam the liquid on board."

"Target the thrusters with phasers!"

Voyager fired three carefully aimed phasers at the thrusters, quickly disabling them. But almost as soon as they were out, the thrusters glowed a dull orange. The propulsion system was regenerative. For a few seconds, the buoy was being pulled back towards Voyager, but not for long.

"Lock onto the antigen and beam it Sickbay!"

The container of liquid rematerialized safely in Sickbay's lab a split second before the communication device's thrusters were back online.

"Let it go."

Tuvok deactivated the tractor beam and the communications buoy shot towards the planet, no longer restrained. The captain sighed and sank into her chair. She only hoped their efforts weren't in vain.

* * *

The yellow Apex started to the north, where the antigen was. If he quickly cured his victim, perhaps he would be forgiven. After all, he was only trying to preserve their way of life. These few outcasts had accepted the strangers' proposal. Who knows what consequences that might bring?

But it had no sooner taken one step when the young blue Apex ran and stood in front of him. Screeches ensued. The yellow Apex could easily push the young one out of the way, but the young one stood his ground, digging his claws into the soil, determined to stay.

The young blue Apex pointed to the amber Apex, the one lying in pain from the poison it was dealt. He looked up at all the adults surrounding it. Soon, several more Apex, young and old, gathered around. The ruckus had certainly caught everyone's attention, including the young blue Apex's father.

The young blue Apex looked at the crowd that surrounded him, his claw still pointing at the victim on the ground. This is what they were doing to the strangers up above. _This is what their poison was causing_. What if they didn't have a counteragent against their own poison? The victim that lay before them would die a slow and painful death. Was it any wonder the strangers tried to stop them? These were sentient creatures they were preying on. What if another species had invaded their planet and preyed upon them? Would that be any different than what they were doing to their victims?

The crowd around the young one looked from him to the victim. Seeing one of their own suffer from the ravages of their own poison… it was as if reality had finally hit home. Most of the crowd was reluctant at first, their pigment flashing, the human equivalent of a scoff, but they couldn't take their eyes off the victim on the ground. As much as they wanted to dismiss what the young one was saying, they couldn't deny the fact that one of their own was suffering. As much as they wanted to feign that what the young one was arguing didn't affect them, they couldn't help but contract their eyes at the sight of the victim on the ground.

* * *

Tom stared intently at the blood sample while the Doctor injected a portion of the liquid onto it.

When the Doctor called him explaining there was still a possibility of saving Harry, he almost dropped the photo he was carrying. It seemed to take forever to get to Sickbay, though he was running at full speed, practically mowing down the people in his way.

Now, as the Doctor injected a portion of the Apex's antigen onto a sample of Harry's blood, Tom held on to hope and desperation. His friend had been clinically dead for more than an hour; if they waited much longer, there would be no hope of reviving him, regardless of whether the poison was extracted from his body or not.

He watched as the antigen worked its way into the poisoned blood, and in seconds… the poison regressed. The Doctor monitored the progress with a nearby display panel. Amazingly, the liquid matched the DNA of the poison and neutralized it, destroying its deadly effects.

But the Doctor and lieutenant knew it wasn't over. They had tried this before, only to fail once the poison changed DNA sequences. As they waited for the poison to change, Tom paced back and forth in front, unable to keep still.

Finally, it was time for the poison to change. In a split second, the poison's DNA changed, as indicated by the display panel… and the antigen changed DNA to match. The antigen then resumed eating away at the poison.

"YES!" Tom couldn't help but shout.

The Doctor returned Tom's smile.

Minutes later, the Doctor and lieutenant were working furiously. The Doctor worked to enhance the progressive speed of the antigen while Tom made sure they had enough of the reagent for Harry's body.

A nod from the Doctor was all that was needed after he loaded the enhanced antigen. With a sequence of commands, the medical hatch closed over Harry's body and the computer did the rest, distributing the antigen throughout Harry's body. A diagnostic panel on the wall revealed the antigen's progress. Within minutes, the poison that had progressed and invaded throughout Harry Kim's body for the past two weeks, was gone. The poison was no match for the antigen.

As soon as Harry's body was cleared of the invading poison, Tom charged the cortical stimulator, turning on the audio monitors. The long, flat-lined beep was hauntingly familiar. Tom hoped it would be the last time he heard that noise.

"50 millijoules," the Doctor said, a hint of hope in his voice.

Beeeeeep

"Again!"

Harry's head jumped up again.

Beeeeeeeeep

"Please, Harry" Tom begged, "please be there."

"75 milijoules."

Beeeeeeeeep

"No," Tom started to say. This could not be happening. Not again.

"Again."

Tom's sweaty, quivering hands fumbled over the controls, but he managed to charge the cortical stimulator again.

"Beep…. Beep… beep…"

Harry's eyes slowly opened.

"Harry?" Tom asked, making sure this wasn't too good to be true.

"… Tom?" Harry said weakly, his foggy thoughts slowly came into focus. He started to remember what had occurred. They were on a planet… Tom was attacked… and so was he.

"Where-are-we? Are-you-okay? We-have-to-get-out-of-here!"

Harry tried to get out of the biobed, but Tom gently guided him back down.

"Woah, easy. You're in Sickbay… _and you're okay_," Tom had to hold back tears as sheer relief filled his soul. His friend was alive. _Harry was alive_.

"… I'm okay, thanks to you. You got us out, Hare," Tom continued, calling his friend by his familiar nickname.

Both Tom and Harry took a collective breath, but each for different reasons.

"Welcome back, Mr. Kim."

Even the Doctor, normally calm in emotional situations, couldn't hold back a wide grin.

* * *

The light blue Apex returned to the replicator, his steps slow and steady. He didn't know what to think. The crowd had finally dispersed and the victim who was attacked had been treated. Some of the crowd left giving him disgusted looks, others gave no expression at all.

When he came to the vicinity of the foreign device, he was horrified. Those that were supposed to be guarding the device were nowhere to be seen and the precious device was shambles. Electronic pieces were strewn everywhere, broken, dented, and charred. Isolinar chips were scattered for several feet. The replicator was completely destroyed.

The light blue Apex thought back. The three Apex that were supposed to be guarding the device had joined the group surrounding him, after hearing he screeches from the victim. They had left the replicator unprotected. And now, the device was destroyed. No doubt, by someone from the opposing side. For the first time, he started to question himself. What was he thinking? He was only one young Apex amongst a planet of hundreds. What could he do? How much change could he invoke? Perhaps he had brought more harm than good. He had never seen his species so divided before.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the distance. Oh great, more angry adults. He turned around and saw a large group of Apex advancing on him. At least fifty of them were there. As they approached, the group parted and one Apex emerged. His father.

The light blue Apex lowered its hands, a sign of submission. It would accept whatever punishment its father had for him. What was the point anyway? He might as well just give up. However, his father didn't punish him. He didn't even screech at him. Instead, he stepped behind him and gently picked up an electronic piece with his massive claws.

The rest of the group followed suit, picking up broken pieces. They gathered the pieces and set them in a pile. Some left to find tools, not to destroy the device even further, but to reverse the damage that had been done. They were fixing the device. Some had already put isolinear chips in their correct slots. The slot console was one of the few pieces that had stayed relatively intact.

The light blue Apex looked in awe around him. His father enclosed his claws around his son's arm; a sign of affection and pride; it was a rare gesture reserved only for times when a father was extremely proud of his son, and the father couldn't think of a more appropriate moment to extend the sign.

The young Apex was still absorbing what was happening, when another group approached. The group his father had led formed a protective circle around the broken pieces. These were the ones who opposed the replicator and made it violently clear. A gray Apex in the group had scratches and burns on him. No device of the Apex caused burns. The burns on his body could only be caused by a foreign device; the one that he destroyed.

The light blue Apex's father stepped protectively in front of his son, but the gray Apex stepped no further. He extended his claws, which held an intact touch-button panel. It was patched up, but in working order. The replicator would not function without it.

* * *

The Doctor held a hand-scanner over Harry Kim and examined the length of his body. He stopped when he got to his legs. His eyebrows narrowed and he tapped at his medical tricorder, making sure the readings were correct. They were.

"What?" Harry asked as he laid on the biobed. He wanted to get right back to duty, but the Doctor wouldn't hear of it.

Tom Paris looked over the Doctor's shoulder and read the tricorder. No… God, no.

"WHAT?" Harry asked again, having now looked at the Doctor and Tom's faces.

Tom looked away, gritting his teeth. He was so excited Harry was alive that he forgot about one other thing. They hadn't treated him in time. He had suffered permanent injury. Even the antigen from the Apex couldn't repair the damage. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did Harry have to suffer? If anything, he should be the one…

The Doctor began slowly, having integrated into his program how to deliver bad news.

"When Mr. Paris and I tried to find a way to treat you, we knew time was limited… and that if we didn't treat you in time, you'd have permanent injury.

"Unfortunately, it appears were too late… my bioscans show the poison caused massive damage to the muscle tissue in your legs… they won't be able to support your weight."

"Are you saying I can't walk?" Harry asked incredulously.

The Doctor nodded sadly. Tom couldn't bring himself to meet Harry in his eyes.

"No…" Harry said. He struggled to sit up, using his arms to pull his upper body up.

"Easy Mr. Kim."

But for the first time, Harry didn't listen to the Doctor. He continued to try and sit up, waving Tom off as he offered to help. Finally, when he was sitting up, Harry tried to move his right leg. He concentrated all his strength, pushing it down to his legs, as if mentally channeling his energy.

His right leg moved, but the movement was weak and only enough to move his foot a few inches. Harry looked at his foot, clinging onto that bit of hope.

"B-But, I can recover right?" he asked, apprehension keeping his voice from being steady, 'I mean, I can gain my strength back, right?"

He looked up at the Doctor and Tom.

Both were eerily silent.

To be continued...

* * *

Once again, thank you so very much to all reviewers! I really appreciate the detailed and honest reviews. It is the reviewers that make writing so rewarding. I also apologize for the late update. I hope to get the next update up sooner.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning**

"I can replicate parts for an isolinear wheelchair," the Doctor said after a long moment of silence, "you can use it to-"

"No," Harry said looking off in the distance. He could already imagine the stares of sympathy he would receive. Not to mention the difficulties of maneuvering around Voyager. Since the cure for paralysis was discovered almost a hundred years ago, wheelchair-friendly accommodations had all but disappeared. His station alone would require several modifications for him to work on it from a sitting position, that is, if it could even be done.

"No," he repeated more adamantly, "I don't need it."

"But Mr. Kim…"

Ensign Harry Kim was already sliding off the biobed. The Doctor looked on, sadly, knowing exactly what was going to happen. As soon a Harry's feet touched the floor, he collapsed, his legs unable to carry his weight.

"I'm fine," he said, trying to wave off Tom's help, but his friend helped him back on the biobed anyway. He looked down sheepishly. He didn't like this kind of attention. He didn't like it at all.

"Wait," Tom said, deep in thought, "there may be an alternative. Two years ago, a physical therapist developed iso-electronic leg supports. They're for patients with severe leg damage. It helps them recover their strength. The supports wrap around the leg and use isolinear chips to deliver tiny electric pulses to the muscles. It won't hurt you, but it might help get your strength back."

"Let's do it!" Harry replied, his eyes lighting up.

The Doctor shot a sideways glance at the lieutenant. Tom Paris knew perfectly well that those leg supports were for patients with a chance of recovery. The damage to Harry's legs was too extensive. Yes, he'd be able to use them and get around, but it would require a lot more energy to take each step than to use an isolinear wheelchair. There was no hope of recovery for Harry Kim; the Doctor knew that, and so did Tom.

Tom glared back at the Doctor as if daring him to say something, but the Doctor stayed silent. He would deal with his student later.

* * *

"Long-range sensors are detecting over fifty Apex," Tuvok reported, tapping at his console, "it seems they are building another replicator." 

Captain Kathryn Janeway smiled. Finally, the hostilities they detected on the planet had ceased. A few minutes earlier, the Apex had sent one last transmission:

We hope the injured has recovered. A young one had helped us see what we were doing to you. We accept your offer.

The captain sent a response transmission thanking the Apex for the antigen. Though no one on Voyager knew just how much change "the young one" had evoked.

"Set a course out of here," she said after a pause, "resume course for the Alpha Quadrant… Let's go home."

Voyager's flanking warp coils angled up and glowed sapphire before it sped away, streaking towards it course.

The captain finally sat back in her seat, able to relax, at least somewhat. The Doctor had reported to her the good news about Harry Kim… and the bad. She looked to her left and saw her first officer looking forward at the main viewscreen.

"May I see you in my Ready Room?" she asked.

"Of course."

* * *

Tom fastened the other leg support around Harry's left leg. His friend now had two long electronic braces on the sides of each leg. A circular brace supported his knees on both sides. 

Tom pointed to a small control interface on Harry's right thigh.

"The braces will automatically detect the pulses you need to walk, but if you ever want to adjust them, the manual override is here."

"Thanks," Harry whispered.

He took a deep breath and slid off the biobed, keeping his hands on the biobed. Even when he stood, he kept his weight on his hands. Slowly, he took each hand off the biobed… and collapsed again to the floor.

Tom rushed to Harry's side and looked at the braces. An indicator showed the braces were using the highest setting possible.

"N-Not a problem," Tom said, even as he searched in his mind for what to do.

He strode to the medical replicator and whispered a command. When he turned around, he hand crutches in his hands. The supports had cuffs on the top that would automatically fit snugly to the patient's arms while he held the handgrips below.

"You'll have to use these," Tom explained.

Harry nodded, focusing on one thing at a time. Hopefully, he would only need to use the crutches for a few days. Hopefully… if not…

Harry pushed the negative thought out of his mind, not wanting to even start thinking about 'what ifs.'

Several tries later, Harry was able to use the crutches as support to drag his feet along. His pace was painstakingly slow, but Harry didn't seem deterred, even when the sweat started to bead down his forehead. As Harry exited Sickbay, Tom opened his mouth to say something, but the Doctor spoke up before the words could come out.

"I want you to take the next three days off," the Doctor instructed.

"Three days?" Harry protested, "But I'm fine."

"You've just recovered from a two week coma and your legs have been badly injured. Give yourself a chance to rest… get used to the crutches."

"…Alright," Harry said after a long pause, "it'll give me a chance to try and get some strength back anyway."

Tom smiled and moved to follow Harry, but the Doctor grabbed his arm. He waited until the doors to Sickbay closed behind the injured ensign before speaking.

"Mr. Paris, what was that?"

"What do you mean?" Tom asked, avoiding the Doctor's eyes.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean," the Doctor replied, "you know as well as I do, that Mr. Kim won't recover from his injuries. The damage to his muscles was too extensive. He won't be able to gain his strength back."

"How do you know that?"

"He legs have lost eighty one percent of their strength," the Doctor said, meeting Tom in the eyes; he hated to do this, but he had to face the truth, "there is a 0.0001 percent chance he will regain strength, let alone enough for the ability to walk."

"Well if you're so sure of that," Tom retorted, yanking his arm away from the Doctor, "Why didn't you stop me? Why didn't you tell Harry the truth before he went out the door?"

The Doctor hesitated, but Tom wouldn't let the silence linger.

"I know why," Tom replied, making sure to meet the Doctor in the eyes, "because deep down inside, you really think that there is a chance for Harry to recover. Somewhere in those holographic pixels of yours, you wouldn't just destroy the only hope Harry has right now!"

Tom let out a heavy sigh. An awkward silence descended in Sickbay as the lieutenant and doctor stood, each troubled by his own thoughts. Tom took a shuddering breath before heading for Sickbay's doors.

"Sooner or later, he has to face the truth," the Doctor said, his voice barely above a whisper. But Tom heard him. He stopped at the doors and gripped the frame as he looked down at the floor. Then, he walked on, without responding to the Doctor.

* * *

"We have to talk," the captain said as she sat in her Ready Room chair. Chakotay settled in the chair in front of her desk. 

"You were right stop me," Janeway said before her first officer could speak, "if I had launched that warning buoy, an entire species would have starved."

"You were trying to protect others from getting killed," Chakotay replied, "you were put in a difficult position."

"Yes, but…" Janeway started, but she paused gathering her thoughts, "I'd like to tell you that my decision was made based on a rational conclusion, but the truth is, I was acting out of anger. When I thought of what they did to Ensign Kim, the Apex stopped being sentient beings and became monsters… at least in my mind."

"As Maquis," Chakotay said after some thought, "I lived off anger; all Maquis did. That may not have been our original intent, but soon that was all we knew. We started off as a renegade group that only fired when necessary, but all that dissolved when we started to suffer casualties. Soon, we didn't hesitate to fire on Starfleet officers, or anyone who wasn't Maquis.

"It wasn't until I joined Voyager when I finally started to see the consequences of my anger, and what I had done. Until then, all I wanted to do was avenge my friends' deaths. But then, I finally started to realize that by living off anger and firing without hesitation, I was no better than the enemies the Maquis fought so hard to avoid."

An uneasy silence settled between the two.

"You were going to relieve me of duty, weren't you?" Janeway asked.

Chakotay nodded.

Janeway looked up from her desk, "You would have been absolutely right to do so."

"I'm just glad I didn't have to."

"Only because the Apex's transmission interrupted us..."

Chakotay put a gentle hand on Kathryn's arm.

"You weren't just acting out of anger, you were trying to protect the innocent from harm," he said.

"And so were you," Kathryn returned the gesture by putting her hand on his arm.

boop

"Captain, this is the Doctor,"

"Yes, Doctor?" the captain replied, sitting back in her chair while letting out a slow breath.

The Doctor resumed to explain Ensign Kim's condition, warning her about the leg braces so she wouldn't be shocked by his appearance. The captain didn't ask about Harry's chances of walking, figuring there was at least some chance, given that he was fitted with braces. The Doctor didn't volunteer any information.

* * *

As the turbolift made its way to the Bridge, Harry Kim leaned on a sidewall, taking some of the weight off his hands, which were holding his crutches. Despite the Doctor's orders to take it easy, for the past three days, Harry worked to move his legs as much as possible. But there was no progress. 

"It's only been a few days," Harry said to himself, "just give it some more time."

The turbolift doors opened quickly, almost too quickly. All eyes on the Bridge turned to him almost immediately. The captain stood up from her chair, as did the first officer.

"Welcome back Ensign Kim," captain Kathryn Janeway smiled.

"Thank you, captain," Harry said as he made his way to his station, "It's good to be back."

A tall chair was placed there. It took some maneuvering to get settled in the seat so he could reach his station. When Harry looked up, he noticed the entire Bridge crew was watching him, including his friend, who was stationed at the helm. One look from Janeway was all that was needed for the Bridge crew to resume their duties. But in the few seconds Harry realized that he was the center of attention, he noticed that his friend had a different look. Not one of pity; his eyes were cast downward and he wore a frown. Before Harry could try and decipher what his friend was thinking, Tom turned back towards the viewscreen.

Harry looked around the Bridge as the officers busied themselves with their duties. He hated this; those looks of pity and sadness. The sooner he'd be able to walk, the better.

* * *

Harry lifted himself onto the parallel bars, having set his crutches aside and removed leg braces.

The ensign was in Holodeck 2, where he ran an exercise program. It had been almost a month since he was injured and despite spending almost every off-duty hour there, he had made no discernable progress; with or without the leg braces. He was starting to think he was exercising his arms more than anything else.

"No…" Harry said to himself, "I can't let myself think like this. This is just temporary. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

However, as he urged his feet to move, putting his entire weight on his hands, the obvious was staring him in the face. It took all his strength to move his right leg even a few inches, let alone an entire step. His left leg fared no better.

Several minutes later, beads of sweat started to pour down Harry's forehead. His hands quivered and hurt with each move. He had spent a double entire shift in Engineering moving from station to station with his crutches trying to fix malfunctioning systems. Finally, several hours later, Engineering was back in working order. He was tried, but he pushed on.

Tom Paris hesitated outside Holodeck 2, having looked ad the control panel. The computer informed him his friend was running the same program he had been running for the past month.

His friend had to know by now. But still, he showed confidence that he would one day walk again. Every time Tom tried to muster the courage to tell Harry the truth, he backed down. There was also something else he wanted to tell him; something that had been haunting him since his friend had been revived, but that required even more courage to say.

He took a deep breath before stepping through the Holodeck doors. He found Harry working hard at the parallel bars. When he reached the end, he would put all his weight on one hand and quickly put his other hand on the same bar to turn himself around. Every so often, he would try and stand, but the second he took his hands off the bars, he would collapse, and be forced to return using the bars as braces.

"Hey Hare," Tom said, stepping towards his friend.

"Hey."

"There's um…." Tom said slowly, "something I need to tell you."

Harry moved so that he was facing Tom.

Tom looked down, fiddling his fingers nervously.

"Yeah…"

boop

"Seven of Nine to Ensign Kim."

Tom grit his teeth and looked up at the ceiling in frustration. Combadges, or rather those who used them, seemed to have impeccable timing.

"Kim, here."

"I require your assistance in Astrometrics. The power surge Voyager experienced has damaged several consoles and isolinear relays."

"Can't this wait?" Harry asked, "I just pulled a double shift."

"The power surge is progressing and needs to be stopped immediately. Lieutenant Torres is busy in Engineering."

"I'll be right there."

Harry turned back to Tom.

"Sorry, what you were saying?"

"Nothing," Tom sighed.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked, eyeing his friend suspiciously.

"Yeah."

When the Holodeck doors closed behind Harry, Tom finally spoke.

"… You won't be able to walk again, Harry. And I'm sorry… if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be in this situation. Because of me, you're crippled for life."

Tom closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He stood there alone in the empty Holodeck for what seemed like an eternity.

* * *

When Harry arrived at Astrometrics, he went right to work. Seven of Nine looked curiously at the engineer.

"You are perspiring," she noticed.

Harry sat in a seat, working on a side panel. He didn't take his eyes off it as he responded.

"Yeah, I was just doing some physical therapy in the Holodeck."

Seven paused, her Borg implants processing the new data. She looked at Harry, whose back was turned towards her.

"Since your injury, it has taken you two point five times longer to transverse the corridors."

Harry stopped working, but still didn't face Seven.

"But I haven't ever been late for a shift, right?"

"No," Seven replied, "but you would travel faster if you used an isolinear wheelchair. Using your crutches is an inefficient use of your time."

Finally, Harry faced Seven, his eyebrows creased.

"Then I'll _be_ inefficient! What's it matter to you anyway?"

"Since your injury, you have spent an inordinate amount of time on the Holodeck in physical therapy both before and after your shifts. You arrive at your shifts already low on energy, decreasing your efficiency by thirty-four percent, but I have yet to hear of any progress. It has been twenty-five days since you have been able to walk; it is time you accept your condition and learn to live with it."

Harry whirled around in his chair and grabbed his crutches. He faced Seven, making sure to meet her in the eyes.

"First of all," he said, gritting his teeth, "you're not even a Starfleet officer, so you have _no right_ to tell me how my 'efficiency percent' is supposed to be. Second of all, I'm going to walk again, and not you, or anyone else on this ship can tell me otherwise.

"Now, do you want my help or not?!"

Seven looked carefully at Harry's angry stare. Clearly, she still had a lot to learn about human emotions.

"There is no other engineer more qualified to repair the malfunctions."

Harry gave a slight nod before resuming his work. The two worked with little conversation for the next hour, only speaking when reporting the status of the consoles. Finally, when they were done, Harry moved back to his crutches, his hands quivering worse than ever.

He got as far as down the first corridor, when his arms finally lost their strength. His pace had been slowing, but he thought he could handle it. He collapsed on the floor, his legs crumpling beneath him. Immediately, he got back up, struggling to get back into his crutches. He didn't want anyone to see him or offer any more help.

By the time the ensign reached his quarters, he was drenched in sweat and completely exhausted. It took the last of his energy just to get himself into the sonic shower and into bed.

As Harry lay in bed, finally able to rest his weary arms, he stared up in the darkness. He grit his teeth as the last month flashed through his mind. At the end of each day, his arms were exhausted, but his legs didn't feel anything. They didn't feel anything because they hadn't been working. Neither of his legs had taken a full step nor have they carried his weight since he was injured. If they couldn't carry his weight by now, what made him think he could walk?

Harry found it difficult to sleep with these thoughts torturing his mind. Maybe Seven was right. She had a tendency to say the blunt truth when no one else dared. Maybe he should just give up; accept his condition. But even as his mind said this, a part of him still refused to give in. So long as his legs could move a millimeter, he still had a chance… at least, that's what he hoped.

In the darkness, Harry felt a single tear roll down his cheek; shed from the frustration, anger, and humiliation he had endured the past several weeks. When he was on the Bridge, it was fairly easy to put up a brave, confident face. He had his duties to distract him. But in his quarters, when he was alone, isolated from everyone else, there was nothing to distract him from the truth.

Perhaps it was time for him to accept it…

_To be continued_

* * *

As always, thank you so very much to all reviewers. I appreciate the compliments as well as the constructive crticism. It really helps me improve my writing. Thanks again!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Star Trek Voyager is property of Paramount Pictures and all respective cast, crew, and employees. I am not making a profit off this. This is simply for fanfiction enjoyment.

Summary: An away mission goes terribly wrong for Harry Kim and Tom Paris. One is badly injured and the other's past comes back to haunt him. One will be forever changed and the other may not survive.

Rating: PG-13

Timeline: Takes place after the episode Nothing Human and before Thirty Days.

* * *

**Poisoning**

"Switch to impulse power, and keep scanning using long-range sensors," Captain Kathryn Janeway ordered. Voyager's rapid pace greatly slowed, the ship coming out of warp.

Harry Kim carefully studied the readings on his console, looking carefully for any signs of the chemical they were looking for. For the past week, Voyager had been running low on dilithium, a chemical used to fuel the warp core. If they didn't find dilithium in the next two weeks, Voyager would be dead in space.

Harry listened for any response on his console, looked for any signs of a planet that could hold dilithium… nothing. Suddenly, the ensign had an idea. He tapped at his console, this time, searching for a different chemical. His console beeped in response.

"Captain, I think I've found something."

Janeway looked in his direction.

"There's a high concentration of lithium oxide five light years to starboard off our current position."

"But we're looking for dilithium."

"Lithium oxide could be an indication of a planet that contains dilithium," Harry explained, "but we can't be sure unless we move closer."

The captain thought for a moment. If they set a course, it would take them just a few days off course for home, but deplete a week's worth of fuel, cutting the fuel they had left in half.

"Set a course," she said, "warp 5."

* * *

A few days later, Harry went to his station on the Bridge. He was getting used to the crutches by now and his speed was getting faster. However, this was no comfort to the ensign. 

He settled into his station, setting his crutches aside. Immediately, he began using Voyager's long-range scanners. He knew they wouldn't be within range for another hour, but that didn't stop him from checking.

When they were within range, Harry tapped rapidly at his console, scanning every detail of the planet nearby.

Tom Paris, stationed at the helm, eased Voyager in closer.

Suddenly, the ship rocked heavily to the side, forcing everyone to grab onto their stations to stay in their seats. Harry tried to hold on, but his hands were sweaty from a mixture of nervousness and excitement. He toppled from his tall chair, landing hard on his right shoulder.

"Sorry," Tom said, "this environment has denser ion concentration. Adjusting inertial stabilizers to compensate."

Voyager became steady once again.

"Harry," Chakotay noticed Harry lying on the floor wincing. The first officer made his way to the ensign, but he was already moving to get back up. Harry grabbed his crutches and moved as quickly as he could back to a standing position, putting his weight on the crutches.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"Are you sure?" Janeway asked.

"Yeah," Harry replied, moving his right arm to show he wasn't injured, "I'm fine."

Harry returned to his station and resumed his work, continuing the scans. His lips curled into a satisfied smile as he found the chemical he was looking for.

"Sensors have picked up large quantities of dilithium on the planet's surface,"  
he reported, "there's plenty of it; enough to fill Voyager's tanks and several canisters of reserves."

"Excellent work, Mr. Kim," the captain replied.

Lieutenant Commander Tuvok studied the readouts at his station.

"The planet is not claimed by any alien species that we have encountered," the Vulcan explained, "However, it is also an inhospitable planet with temperatures exceeding five hundred fifty degrees Celsius. The dilithium is under the surface where temperatures are much cooler.

"It would be inadvisable to beam down to the surface, even with environmental suits."

Harry let out a slow breath. So close… yet so far.

"Captain," he said after a moment of thought, "we could take the Delta Flyer close to the surface and use phasers to break through. We can then beam the dilithium into containers.

"I can configure the Flyer's shields to withstand the ion atmosphere. The ion atmosphere might disrupt communications, but I don't see any other way we can mine the dilithium."

The captain paused.

"Do it. Mr. Paris and Mr. Kim, take the Flyer in," she said after some thought.

Ensign Kim eagerly jumped out of his chair. He had not been on an away mission since his injury. Since he was injured, he had watched over and over again, other senior officers take his place on away missions. This time, however, would be different. There was no need to beam to the surface and thus, no need to walk.

He leaned on his crutches, and his right shoulder pained his protest. The pain from his fall had started off dull and it seemed to be getting worse. But he ignored it. Nothing was going to stop him from going on this mission.

"Mr. Paris?" the captain asked.

The lieutenant was at his station, staring distantly at the viewscreen. His hands had started to shake ever so slightly since the captain ordered his friend and him to the Delta Flyer.

"Yes, captain," Tom snapped out of his thoughts. He moved to the turbolift.

* * *

After Harry configured the Flyer's shields, Tom eased the sophisticated shuttlecraft out of Voyager's docking port and into space. As soon as the shuttlecraft flew several kilometers away from Voyager, the sensors beeped. 

"There's an ion storm coming our way," Harry said, reading his console.

* * *

"Why didn't our sensors detect it?" the captain asked. Lieutenant Commander Tuvok had just reported the ion storm to her. 

"It appeared with no warning," Tuvok explained, "this appears to be a phenomenon localized to this location. The ion concentration increased exponentially in two point three seconds."

"Communications?"

The Vulcan shook his head.

"Can we beam them back?"

"Negative, the higher concentration of ion is disrupting transporters."

He tapped a series of commands into his station, brining up a schematic of the storm.

* * *

"There's a break in the storm," Harry reported reading the sensors of the Delta Flyer, "This storm seems to come in waves. The next break is twenty minutes away. Luckily, the storm is below us. We could take the Flyer in during the calm. We'll have fifteen minutes to take her in. Once we get close to the surface, we'll be below the ion wave. We'll wait for the next break to take the Flyer back up. 

"The breaks don't seem to occur at regular intervals. We'll have a half hour before the next break. From there, we'll only have ten minutes to take the Flyer back up before the next wave hits."

"… Tom?"

Harry's friend had been silent since they boarded the Flyer.

"Tom? Are you alright?"

Harry started to move towards his crutches to get to his friend, but finally, Tom spoke.

"W-we can't," he stammered, still staring straight ahead, "we can't take the Flyer in. It's too dangerous."

Harry stared at his friend in shock. He had never known him to shy away from danger, especially if it involved testing his piloting skills.

"… If we take her in during breaks, we should be fine."

"No," Tom insisted, "we have to get back to Voyager. The storm waves are too unpredictable."

"This is the only way we can get the dilithium," Harry argued, not believing he was trying to convince his friend to pilot the Delta Flyer.

Tom continued to stare ahead. Images and memories started to flash though his mind. Junior Ensign Hayes lying on the floor of the shuttlecraft of his first mission, deep burns over his entire body from the warp core breach. Him trying to wake Junior Ensign Rictor after her head slammed into a wall as the shuttle spun out of control. The cold sweat he felt as he faced a court martial for his reckless acts on his first mission… Harry saying over his combadge that he thought he heard something as the two investigated the cave, just before he was attacked…

"Tom?"

Harry's voice jolted Tom from his thoughts.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Tom replied, hoping he sounded more confident than he actually was. He pressed at his console.

"I-It's just too dangerous, that's all. We have to go back."

"Why? It'll be fine, we just have to make it though between the storm waves."

"No, it-it's not good."

Tom was already instructing the Delta Flyer to set a course back for Voyager.

"What're you talking about? We can't go back now. We might not have another chance. I don't see another break in the storm besides the two that will allow us to go down to the surface and back up again. With your piloting and my enhancements to the shields, everything will be fine."

"No, everything won't be fine," Tom said, raising his voice. He stopped instructing the Flyer and turned back towards his friend, "because I am _not_ going to be responsible for killing another person."

Harry stared back at his friend, trying to think what on Earth his friend could be talking about. It didn't take him long to remember. The incident at Caldik Prime that cost three Starfleet officers' lives was infamous throughout Starfleet.

"That's not going to happen again," Harry said.

"You don't know that," Tom insisted, "I'm already responsible for your injuries; I'm not going to be responsible for killing you… I nearly did that already!"

Tom lowered his head. He didn't mean to confess this way.

"What're you talking about?" Harry said, "… You mean, you blame yourself for what happened to me on the Apex planet? How are you responsible?"

"Y-You warned me that something wasn't right," Tom argued, his eyes downcast, "but I didn't listen to you; and now you've paid the price."

Tom looked away before continuing.

"Because of me, you won't ever be able to walk again."

Tom's words caught Harry off guard and resounded in his mind. His words echoed like your own voice does in an empty cavern, emphasizing just how alone you are.

"Yeah, w-well…" Harry stammered, starting to fight back tears, "walking is overrated anyway."

Hearing his friend say those words to him, it was as if all hope had been sealed away for eternity. Though the possibility of him not walking was always in the back of Harry's mind, he constantly dismissed it, hoping that if he held on, just a little longer, endured just one more physical therapy session, he'd make some progress; but neither were true. His friend vocalizing reality had finally made him face the truth. _He'd never be able to walk again_.

Harry's console beeped. He read the display, thankful for the interruption.

"The break in the ion storm is approaching," he announced.

"We can't go in," Tom said. He froze at his station, watching the ion storm through the front windows of the Delta Flyer.

"Tom, hurry," Harry said, "the break in the storm won't last long. We have to go in there, now."

"No, I can't," Tom, the skilled pilot, started to reverse the Flyer away from the ion storm and head back towards Voyager; images of the lives he cost and the injuries to his best friend swam through his mind.

Harry looked from Tom to the ion storm. This might be their only chance to mine for dilithium. But there was an even more important reason to head towards the planet's surface.

Tom concentrated on his console. He just had to take it nice and steady towards Voyager. Then, they'd both be fine. Suddenly, the controls buzzed in denial. He tapped harder, but the console buzzed again in protest.

"What the-?"

He was locked out of the controls. Tom whipped his head behind him.

"Harry, what're you doing? I can't do this!"

"You _have_ to," Harry said, looking straight into his friend's eyes. He had locked Tom out of helm control and was taking the Delta Flyer himself into the calm of the storm. He worked as quickly as he could, though his right arm's movements were restricted by the pain his shoulder.

As soon as the Flyer entered the calm of the storm, it rocked and bucked; even the calm of the storm wasn't completely calm. Harry released the Flyer's helm control and transferred them back to Tom.

For a few seconds, Tom stared at the familiar controls as if he had never seen them before. For several heart-pounding seconds, Harry watched as the next wave of the ion storm closed in on them.

"Tom, _now would be a really good time to pilot the Flyer_," Harry said urgently as the storm came within a hundred kilometers.

A cold sweat beaded on Tom's forehead, but he fumbled for the controls anyway. Looking to his right, he flipped some switches on the console he modified to mimic Captain Proton's ship, taking comfort in the familiarity of the controls. He concentrated on taking it step-by-step and slowly, the pilot in him took over. In seconds, he took the controls like a natural, moving the agile shuttlecraft through the break. The Flyer maneuvered quickly and gracefully towards the surface, waving and flowing with the break in the storm.

Tom let out a slow sigh of relief as he eased the Flyer into position over the surface of the planet. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took several slow breaths.

"You okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Tom said, smiling for the first time in a long while, "… I'm just fine."

Harry let his friend rest while he worked at the controls. The ensign modified transporters and diverted all available power to them to compensate for the ion concentration interference.

A precise phaser shot out of the Delta Flyer's bow, which cut through the planet's surface, easily slicing through the dense rock.

"Transporting the dilithium," Harry said as he glided his finger on his console. Behind him, dilithium was transported into containers specially designed to house the volatile substance. A few more transports were all that were needed.

"Hey Harry?" Tom said, turning to face his friend.

Harry looked up from his console.

"I-I'm sorry," Tom said. He looked downward, taking several moments to gather himself before looking back up, "I'm sorry for not listening to you. I… I'm sorry for your not being able to walk. I'm responsible for all this. I-wish-I-could-take-it-all-back-"

"Don't blame yourself," Harry interrupted, not wanting his friend to say anything further, "I don't blame you and you shouldn't either."

"But if it weren't for me you'd be able to walk-"

"Any number of things could've happened on that planet," Harry countered, "to you or me. Or, nothing could've happened. That's the risk we take when we go on away missions. Neither one of us could've foreseen what happened."

"But you knew something was wrong on that planet, and _I didn't listen to you_."

"I'm not right all the time," Harry countered, "no one is. The point is, is if either of us knew this would happen, we never would've landed on the Apex planet.

"You want to know why I became your friend?" Harry continued, "Everyone warned me about you, saying 'he's responsible for the incident at Caldik Prime. I'd stay away from him if I were you.

"But I didn't see someone who was responsible for three deaths. I saw someone who was sorry for a terrible mistake he made. I saw someone who was being punished over and over again for a mistake he made years ago that I'm sure is never far from his mind.

"It's not right for people to punish you for a mistake that you know the consequences of, better than anyone else. Don't add to that by torturing yourself with what if's. Tom, please… don't blame yourself."

Tom sighed heavily and began to nod.

Suddenly, Tom's console beeped. He let out a sigh and swiveled back around in his chair.

"There's the other break," Tom said, looking at the Flyer's sensor readouts on a front panel, "coming in fast in three minutes."

Harry glanced upward, then did a double-take. His fingers danced of his console as he checked to make sure what he was seeing was true. It was. It seemed the storm was more variable than either of them had anticipated. What had originally been a wide gap for the Flyer to return to Voyager, had narrowed to just one kilometer. The narrow break had several sharp waves. The Delta Flyer would have to make exact movements to avoid the storms on both sides. The next ion storm wave was coming in fast; and the concentration of ions three times higher than the first wave. It would be like threading a needle though an electrical field.

"_That is too narrow_," Harry said breathlessly, "we'll never make it."

But there was no other break in the storm for another three hours, as far as Delta Flyer's long-range sensors could see. The next break might be in three and a half hours, maybe three days. Maybe never.

"We have to," Tom replied. The two exchanged glances; both even managed a slight smile.

Tom adjusted himself in his seat, mentally preparing for the task ahead.

"Harry, I'm going to need you to adjust power to the plasma injectors, shields, and internal stabilizers; all three need as much power as we can manage."

"Sure."

He grabbed his crutches and a toolkit and hobbled down the Flyer. His shoulder now hurt even more, stinging every time he moved, but he grit his teeth and continued.

When he reached the Jeffries tube, Harry slowly lowered himself to the floor, putting the toolkit in the Jeffries tube. He set aside his crutches, and crawled in. It was then when his shoulder had had enough. Sharp, stabbing pain assaulted it as he rested his right elbow on the floor.

"AUUGHH!"

Harry looked at his right shoulder. It was only then when he realized that it had swollen to twice its size. On Voyager, he had hit the floor much harder than he thought.

"Going in," Tom announced over the combadge, "shields up!"

He did not hear his friend's yell, which was muffled by the Jeffries tube.

The Delta Flyer rocked violently and buzzing erupted all around it as the ions in the calm of the storm grazed the shields.

Tom watched the front viewscreen carefully, the pink ions looming all around. The Flyer. The next storm wave was coming in even closer.

"Harry, I need more power to the shields and warp drive," Tom said, slapping his combadge, "we need to get through here as quickly as possible. And in one piece, preferably."

Harry winced, the pain in his shoulder augmenting.

"I'm getting there," he said.

He tried to move crawl forward, but he could not move his entire right arm. His shoulder was in too much pain. Without the use of both arms, he wouldn't be able to pull his body forward. But he didn't have the luxury of time to think.

He shifted to his side and used his left arm to place his legs forward. Then, he placed his left hand on the grate floor of the Jeffries tube, putting his entire weight on his legs and left hand. Just as he was about to move forward, the Delta Flyer was hit with an ion burst, sending him to the floor.

"Harry, I need more power to shields, _now_!"

He had to get to those panels. Without even thinking about it, Harry moved forward, slowly, but surely, pushing the toolkit forward every few steps. It seemed to take an eternity before he reached the right panel. Once he got there, he tore off the panel cover with his left hand and went to work.

The Delta Flyer's shields, internal stabilizers, and warp drive strengthened. With its newly acquired power and one of the best pilots in Starfleet at the helm, the Delta Flyer moved and ebbed between ion storm waves.

"Oh no," Tom gasped as he stared at the viewscreen. Even with his piloting skills and Harry's modifications, the storm had still managed to close its way around them. They only had half a kilometer to go. They'd had to punch their way through. They'd be able to survive for a few seconds, but not much longer than that.

"Hang on," Tom said, bracing himself as he reached for the controls to warp drive, "these next few seconds are going to be a little bumpy."

"Whad'ya mean 'a little bumpy,'" Harry asked, "you mean this isn't rough enough?"

The lights dimmed as the Flyer used all residual power to speed its way though the last leg. Just before the shuttle hit top speed, Tom glanced behind him to make sure the strengthened forcefields he erected around the dilithium containers were holding. They were.

He turned back around, grit his teeth, and braced himself for the bumpy ride.

Harry was jostled violently in the narrow Jeffries tube as the ion storm slammed the Delta Flyer with full force. It took all of Tom's strength to keep from being flung out of his seat.

In seconds, consoles started sparking and exploding all around the interior of the Flyer. Outside, the shields were holding, but just barely. Every so often, an ion stream would penetrate a weakness in the shields, tearing through an outer panel.

In the cacophony of explosions, Harry started to move away from the panel he was facing, but he didn't move quickly enough. The panel he had been working on a minute before, exploded in his face, slamming him hard against the back of the Jeffries tube.

"Just a two more seconds," Tom shouted, more to himself than anyone else. Though those two seconds might as well have been two more hours.

Finally, the Delta Flyer cleared the ion storm, more or less intact.

Tom pushed himself off the floor. That last second finally hit the Delta Flyer hard enough for him to be pitched out of his seat. He touched the side of his face, which was bleeding. But he wasn't concerned about that.

"Harry?"

No answer.

"Harry!"

Quickly, he got to his feet and raced to the back of the Delta Flyer.

* * *

Harry slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry at first. The Doctor's face came into focus. 

"Hello Mr. Kim," the Doctor greeted nonchalantly, "how are you feeling?"

Harry looked around him. He was in Voyager's Sickbay. Tom, the captain, and the Doctor were standing next to him as he laid on a biobed. Harry tried to get back up, but the pain in his shoulder, head, and face forced him back down.

"Sore," he answered simply.

"It's no wonder," the Doctor explained, "a ligament in your right shoulder is inflamed, you have second degree burns on your face, and a slight concussion. But with my skill, you'll be good as new in a few hours."

"You okay, Tom?" Harry asked, looking at his friend.

Tom nodded. He knew his friend was referring to more than just physical injuries.

"Thanks to the both of you," Captain Janeway said, smiling with pride, "we have enough dilithium to fill Voyager's tanks and several reserves. We increased power to the transporters and beamed the both of you out when you cleared the ion storm."

She studied Harry's face, which was covered in deep burns.

"That must've been quite a ride."

"… piece of cake," Tom said.

"Yeah," Harry said, "piece of Tarkazian blood cake sprinkled with hard-to-swallow leola roots."

The three gave disgusted, but pleasant smiles.

Harry laid back down, but as soon as he did so, he tried to get back up. He felt something. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Relax, Mr. Kim."

Harry tried again, propping himself up on his left elbow. Could it be true? He tried again, and his right leg moved. Not just a few inches, but it swung out wide almost a foot with very little effort.

Harry breathed in, not believing what he was seeing. The Doctor carefully waved a hand-scanner over his right leg and smiled broadly. The lieutenant and captain watched intently.

"Your legs have regained its muscle mass by ten percent," the Doctor said.

"But how?" Harry asked, still looking at his legs in awe. He tried to move his left leg, which responded the same as his right.

"I've been trying all this time and I've made no progress. Why now?"

The Doctor stepped back, processing the new information.

"All that physical therapy and exercise you have been putting yourself through seems to have paid off," he explained, "Your muscles regained mass from the accumulation of those physical therapy sessions. It may not have been noticeable before, but you have been making progress all this time, little by little. Even my medical tricorder couldn't pick up the slow progress you made, but it's obvious now that you have been regaining the strength in your legs."

Harry thought back.

"That's how I got to the control panel in the Jeffries tube," he said, "I didn't pull my body with my one good arm, _my legs pushed me forward_."

"If you keep up the physical therapy regimen you've been doing, you should be walking on your own in four weeks."

Without warning, tears of joy started to fill Harry's eyes, and when he looked up, the captain was on the verge of tears herself.

"Congratulations, ensign," she smiled, "…. You've done well."

Tom stood by without knowing what to say. Finally, he simply patted his friend on the back and smiled, unable to put into words just how happy he was for his friend.

* * *

When Harry left Sickbay, Tom began to follow, but the Doctor stopped him. 

"I-I'm sorry," the Doctor said, "I didn't know Ensign Kim would recover. In fact, I'm still wondering how he did it. I shouldn't have pushed you to tell Mr. Kim-"

"I did tell him," Tom replied, "...I finally told him he'd never be able to walk again. But he just wouldn't listen to me."

Tom finished with a smile.

"I still don't understand," the Doctor said, searching his memory engrams, "all my research, all my studies say he shoud not have recovered."

"Doc," Tom said, patting the Doctor on the shoulder, "some things can't be taught in digial books or downladed into medical files."

Tom left Sickbay, leaving a brooding holographic doctor in his wake.

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" B'Elanna Torres asked, looking at Tom. 

Tom nodded.

"I'll be in my quarters if you need me," she whispered. She left his quarters, the doors hissing behind her. Several moments later, Tom finally got off the couch and picked up the data padd on his table.

"Computer…"

The computer beeped in response.

"Begin recording."

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, Rictor, and Hernandez. I-I know you haven't heard from me since the accident…"

A lump started to form in Tom's throat. He knew it was going to be hard, he just didn't realize just how hard it would be. Since the incident at Caldik Prime, he had not spoken to the parents of the officers who died under his command. Nor did he attend the officers' funerals. The thought of facing the friends and loved ones of the officers whom he led to their deaths, was just too much. At the time, he was just coming to grips with reality himself.

"… and I wouldn't blame you if you just threw this into the molecular trash right now, but please.. hear me out. There's something I would like to say. Something I owe to all of you.

"I'm sorry."

Tears started to well in the lieutenant's eyes, but he forged ahead.

"I-I p-pushed the shuttle to reckless speed, causing the deaths of your daughters and son. I am so sorry. Since the accident, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about what happened. How I ended three innocent lives….

"Mr. and Mrs. Hayes, your son was such a dedicated, hard-working Starfleet officer. He and I once worked all night on a plasma manifold assignment. I wanted to go to bed, but he encouraged me to go on. Needless to say, our professor was impressed with our work. Most of which, was his idea.

"Mr. and Mrs. Rictor, Samantha was so quick in thinking and executing commands, I nicknamed her 'Warp Speed Sam.' Several times, she'd execute commands so quickly, our professors hardly knew what happened. In a flight simulation, she avoided a warp core breach with seconds to spare.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez, your daughter was destined for a stellar Starfleet career. Not only was she an excellent officer, she had an incredible gift of bringing people together and getting them to come to an agreement. She always saw the good side of people and let others know it. If there were a ship of Cardassians and Klingons, I wouldn't be surprised if she had them working together within an hour.

"… I'm sorry it's taken this long for me to apologize. After the accident, I didn't want to face the truth, but that's no excuse for my not explaining myself to you."

Tom took another deep breath as tears finally started to fall.

"I'm not going to ask you to forgive me because to tell you the truth, I don't know if I'd be able to if I were you. I… I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I really am sorry…."

Finally, Tom began to cry.

"C-computer, stop recording."

It took several moments before he could speak again.

"… computer, save letter and download to the computer consoles of the Hayes, Rictor, and Hernandez family when we are within communications range of Earth."

Tom took a shuddering, but relieved breath as the computer acknowledged the command with a beep.

* * *

Over the next several days, Harry upped his physical therapy sessions to three hour-long sessions a day. At first, he was able to move his legs one step at a time with the help of the highest settings on his leg braces. Then slowly, he began to decrease the electrical stimulation settings. Until finally, it was time… 

Carefully, Harry pulled off the leg braces he had depended on for so long. He had abandoned the crutches days ago and never looked back.

He slowly rose out of the chair he was sitting in and his hands hovered over the parallel bars. Harry was running the physical therapy program for another, yet hopefully last time.

Slowly, he took one step in front of the other… and walked for the first time in over a month and a half. He had beaten the Doctor's prediction of walking by a week. Three weeks after collecting the dilithium from the planet, he was walking; under his own power.

boop

"Captain to Ensign Kim," Janeway's voice emanated from Harry's combadge.

"Yes captain?" Harry's joy could be heard through the sound of his voice.

"In the Briefing Room… _now_."

Harry's moment of joy immediately dissipated when the heard the tone of the captain's voice. The captain was not happy and her anger was directed at him.

Harry left the Holodeck, his mind running a mile a minute. What could have done wrong? He didn't even realize how easy it was for him to walk the halls of Voyager.

It seemed to take an eternity for him to reach the Briefing Room. When he did, he found the captain was not alone. The entire senior staff was seated around the table. All looked up at him when he entered the room. A cold seat began to form on Harry's forehead.

He headed towards the only empty seat, but the captain rose from the chair.

"I'd prefer you stand, ensign."

This was it. He was going to be reprimanded in front of the entire senior staff. For what? He was still trying to figure out. Maybe logging in several hours on the Holdeck for his physical therapy sessions? But he was never late for his shifts, nor did he leave early. In fact, the past several days he had logged in several hours to repair key systems.

Also, he never knew the captain to publicly reprimand an officer…

Harry stood at attention and faced Janeway at the front of the Briefing Room.

"Captain," he said, trying hard not to let his nervousness show.

"Ensign Kim," she said sternly, "you are charged with…"

Harry sucked in a breath through his grit teeth. Here it comes…

"… going above and beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions," the captain continued; her voice was much gentler and she had a smile on her face, "You've protected this entire crew by standing up to the Hirogen, you risked your life by holding this ship intact when Voyager encountered a divergence field, you saved Naomi Wildman, and you protected a friend while being falsely accused and imprisoned for terrorism, even when you were badly injured yourself.

"Between all that, you have performed your duties with admiral dedication, hard-work, and you've come up with several technological innovations, giving Voyager invaluable improvements to its technology."

Harry sighed in relief and the senior crew smiled. The lieutenant pilot seated near him was grinning from ear to ear.

"It is with great pleasure," the captain said, pulling something out of her pocket. She opened her hand face up and Harry saw a pip in the palm of her hand, "that I promote you to the rank of lieutenant."

The senior staff erupted in applause as Janeway fixed the new pip to Harry's collar.

"I-I will perform my new duties and responsibilities," Harry said, still reeling from what had just happened, "to the best of my ability. Thank you, captain."

The captain smiled and shook her head wryly.

"Don't thank me," she responded, "you deserve it."

The senior staff filed out of the conference room, each congratulating Harry. All of them also acknowledged his ability to walk. That did not go unnoticed.

Tom, on his way out of the Briefing Room, patted his friend on the shoulder.

"You knew, didn't you?" Harry smiled.

"Hey," Tom said feigning defense, "all of us knew. I was just going with the flow."

"And you enjoyed it, didn't you?" Harry laughed.

Tom patted his friend on the shoulder again and looked Harry in the eyes.

"Every minute of it."

* * *

Harry sat in the mess hall, watching as Neelix placed a bowl of Tarameesium hair chowder in front of him. 

"Looks delicious," Tom commented from across the table.

"Thank you," Neelix said, "but you haven't tried it yet."

The Talaxian placed a bowl in front of him as well.

"Harry's going to try it first."

The Talaxian looked at Harry, expectantly.

Seven of Nine approached the table and faced Harry.

"May I ask you something?"

Harry nodded and stood from his seat, walking to the side.

"I owe you an apology," she said.

"… For what?" Harry asked after searching his memory for what she could be talking about.

"When you were strengthening your legs during physical therapy with no discernable progress, I referred to your actions as inefficient… futile. But it was clear that I was wrong. Had you listened to me, you would have stopped your progress and you never would have walked."

"… yeah, well," Harry said, not caring too much to relive that memory, "you were also trying to force me to face the truth."

"May I ask you another question?"

"Sure."

"When it was clear that you were making no progress in walking, why did you continue your physical therapy sessions?"

Harry paused, trying to think how best to convey the roller coaster of emotions he had endured the past several weeks.

"…Because I didn't want to give up hope," he said after some thought, "Once you start losing hope, you start creating your own reality. And the reality I faced was something I never wanted to face.

"To tell you the truth, a part of me knew the chances of me walking again were very slim. Guess I was just too stubborn to admit reality."

The former Borg nodded. Satisfied with the answer, she walked away.

Harry returned to his seat, and after as much stalling as he could, he took a spoonful of Tarameeseum hair chowder.

"Well…?" Neelix asked.

"… It's delicious," Harry said as the creamy, warm chowder ran down his throat. The Tarameeseum hair had a light sweet taste to it, a perfect complement to the chowder.

Tom raised his eyebrows, trying to make sure his friend wasn't tricking him. But finally, he gave it a try and liked it, too.

* * *

A few days later, Harry and Tom were in Holodeck Two, the same Holodeck Harry had logged so many hours in for his physical therapy sessions. But this program was different. 

"Computer, run Holodeck Program Paris five."

The Holodeck formed itself into a basketball court.

"Call it in the air," Tom said before tossing the simulated coin that would determine who got the ball first, "this is one-on-one, lieutenant to lieutenant."

Soon, the two were playing basketball, just like they had so many weeks ago. Harry had finally regained all strength and muscle in his legs. He moved and ran with ease, a fact that escaped neither officer.

* * *

Harry arrived on the Bridge and settled into his station. It felt good to return to his console under his own power. 

"There's some subspace distortions directly ahead of us," Tom said from his station at the helm.

"Can we plot a course around it?" the captain asked.

"Yes," Tom answered, "it'll only take two days to get around them, but we'll have to keep a constant watch on their position."

"_Lieutenant _Kim," Janeway said, making sure to emphasize his new rank, "keep a sensor lock on the distortions. Make sure we keep a distance of at least twenty kilometers away."

"Aye captain."

Voyager sped through the black space, dappled with stars. Lieutenant Kim watched as the ship easily maneuvered around the distortions. Though it was an ordinary moment, the lieutenant relished every moment of it. He stood at his station, gently pushing the chair he needed before, behind him.

Once they were cleared of the distortions, Voyager's flanking warp coils angled up and the ship sped away in a streak. Lieutenant Kim watched the stars became streaks as Voyager sped into warp, several thousand kilometers away; several thousand kilometers closer to home.

* * *

I hope you have enjoyed my story. I certainly enjoyed writing it. Thank you so very much to all reviewers. I love to write, and reviewers make writing so rewarding:)


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